House, govt amend social security bill<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives and the government have made
\nsubstantial changes to the much-criticized bill on national
\nsocial security, which was due to be endorsed on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The House special committee and the manpower minister, in the
\nfinal minutes of their Monday meeting, agreed not to liquidate
\nstate-owned PT Jamsostek, PT Taspen, PT Askes, PT Jasa Raharja
\nand PT Asabri, which provide social security to workers, civil
\nservants, servicemen and public transport passengers,
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
\"The legislation will function as an umbrella law for all laws
\nthat regulate state-owned social security firms and their
\nexisting programs,\" special committee chairman Surya Chandra
\nSurapaty told the press after the committee's last session.<\/p>\n
The House is scheduled to hold a plenary session on Tuesday to
\nendorse the bill, which sparked opposition from employers and
\nlabor unions alike. They challenged the draft as it proposed that
\nworkers insurance firm Jamsostek be merged with the other four
\nand provide cross-subsidized social security to the unemployed
\nand the poor.<\/p>\n
Djimanto, secretary-general of the Indonesian Employers
\nAssociation (Apindo), hailed the amendments to the bill, saying
\nApindo would accept the bill as long as it did not overburden
\nemployers and workers.<\/p>\n
House special committee member Rekso Ageng Herman said the
\ngovernment and the committee also agreed to insert a special
\narticle on the establishment of a non-profit agency that falls
\ndirectly under the President, tasked with managing trust funds
\nfor the social security programs.<\/p>\n
\"The five companies will no longer be obliged to pay taxes and
\ndividends to the government, and their annual profits will be
\nadded to their assets to help improve subscribers' welfare,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The bill also stipulates that the government is to cover the
\nmembership of the jobless in social security programs, which will
\nbe carried out in phases.<\/p>\n
\"In the first phase, the government will provide health care
\nfor the unemployed, with their premiums to be drawn from the
\nannual state budget,\" Rekso said, adding that finance minister
\nBoediono had guaranteed that the state would pay the social
\nsecurity premiums for unemployed people.<\/p>\n
Under the draft bill, the government is also to issue a
\nregulation that defines the unemployed category, as many people
\nwho work less than 35 hours per week or make a monthly income
\nbelow the subsistence level -- or disguised unemployment -- are
\nincluded in the open unemployment category.<\/p>\n
Muzni Tambusai, director general for labor standards at the
\nMinistry of Manpower and Transmigration, told The Jakarta Post
\nsingle unemployed people would be charged a health care premium
\nequivalent to 3 percent of regional minimum wages, while married
\nunemployed people would be charged 6 percent, and their health
\ncare benefits would be regulated by government legislation.<\/p>\n
B.M. Tri Lestari, Jamsostek director of planning, development
\nand information, lauded the changes to the bill, as employers and
\nworkers considered the previously proposed merger unfair:
\nJamsostek had Rp 33 trillion in assets collected from workers and
\ntheir employers, while social security for civil servants and
\nservicemen were covered by the government.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-govt-amend-social-security-bill-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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