Govt to enforce social security scheme<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government will start getting tough enforcing the law on
\ncompulsory social security programs and insist that employers
\nregister all their workers with a program, an official says.<\/p>\n
"In cooperation with provincial and regental administrations
\nand state insurance firm PT Jamsostek, the manpower and
\ntransmigration ministry has decided to reactivate its supervisory
\nunit to enforce the law so that all workers employed in the
\nformal sector take part in social security programs," the
\nministry's Director General of Labor Inspections Maruddin
\nSimanihuruk told The Jakarta Post here on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Besides deploying 1,140 labor inspectors, he said the
\ngovernment would gradually recruit about 500 new labor inspectors
\nannually to fill a shortage of about 3,000 officers.<\/p>\n
"Labor inspectors, who have the right to investigate, will
\nbring to court all employers found to have breached the Social
\nSecurity Law. Those who bring many violators to justice will be
\ngiven incentives and promotions," Maruddin said.<\/p>\n
The government will also blacklist companies that fail to
\nregister their workers with Jamsostek and announce them publicly,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
He said only 60 percent, or about 24 million, of an estimated
\n40 million workers employed in the formal sector had been
\nenrolled in social security programs. Many employers had
\nregistered only a selection of their workers or had lied about
\nworkers' salaries to avoid paying high premiums, Maruddin said.<\/p>\n
According to Law No. 3\/1992, companies employing 10 or more
\nworkers and\/or paying at least Rp 1 million (US$109) in monthly
\nsalary are required to register their workers with social
\nsecurity programs.<\/p>\n
Workers are required to pay 7 percent of their gross monthly
\nsalaries into health care, occupational accident, death and
\npension programs, with employers responsible for another 5
\npercent.<\/p>\n
The supervisory unit at the ministry was decentralized to the
\nregions after regional autonomy was introduced in 2000, a move
\nthat prompted most of the experienced labor inspectors and
\ntraining instructors to seek other better-paying jobs in local
\nadministrations.<\/p>\n
Jamsostek's director of operations and services Indra Haryadi
\nsaid that Jamsostek had increased its operations budget this year
\nto help the ministry enforce the law because the company had no
\ninvestigative authority.<\/p>\n
"In this way, we plan that the remaining 16 million workers
\nemployed in the formal sector will join social security programs,
\nemployers will adhere to the law when paying their workers'
\npremiums, and more than 50 million workers working in the
\ninformal sector will gradually join Jamsostek," he said.<\/p>\n
He said the low participation of workers in Jamsostek had a
\nlot to do with the slow economic growth that had led to lower
\nwages and weaker purchasing power.<\/p>\n
"The slow economic growth and the less-conducive investment
\nclimate has prevented employers from paying their workers better
\nand led to many layoffs," he said. Almost 50 percent of 24
\nmillion workers registered with Jamsostek were now unemployed
\nbecause of layoffs, especially in the forestry and textile
\nindustries, he said.<\/p>\n
Indra called for the government to begin enforcing the law
\namong state enterprises first. Many workers in electricity firm
\nPLN and railway company PT Kereta Api have not been registered
\nwith Jamsostek, he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-to-enforce-social-security-scheme-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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