Most employers neglect women's rights<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
A large percentage of firms in large cities across the country
\nare denying women their legal rights in the workplace, a survey
\nby the Women's Journal Foundation (YJP) has found.<\/p>\n
The survey, released during a women's workers workshop on
\nWednesday, revealed that although prevailing laws require
\ncompanies to grant a three-month maternity leave as well as
\nregular menstruation leave to women, many companies have not been
\nabiding by the law.<\/p>\n
According to the survey, the offending employers discourage
\nwomen from taking the full three months off.<\/p>\n
Munawaroh, a worker at a garment factory in Bandung, West
\nJava, said on Wednesday that at her company, where almost 90
\npercent of the workers are women, pregnant workers are told to
\ntake maternity leave for two months at the maximum and get extra
\nmoney as compensation for the third month.<\/p>\n
The survey also revealed that in many cases, pregnant women
\nhave been required to take their maternity leave for three
\nconsecutive months after giving birth.<\/p>\n
\"So, the pregnant workers remain at work for the full nine
\nmonths of their pregnancies, which can be dangerous to their
\nhealth and of their unborn babies,\" the report said.<\/p>\n
Existing laws allow for one-and-a-half months before they are
\ndue and an equal amount of time after they give birth.<\/p>\n
The survey also shows that there are many non-permanent
\nworkers whose contracts are annulled when they are seven or eight
\nmonths pregnant, presumably so companies will not have to provide
\npaid maternity leave.<\/p>\n
In addition to the maternity leave issue, most companies are
\nalso lax about granting time off for menstruating workers.<\/p>\n
According to Law No. 13\/2003, a company is required to grant
\ntwo days of paid menstruation leave to all women workers each
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
Of the 10 companies surveyed in Jakarta, Tangerang, Bandung
\nand Solo, only one is abiding by the menstruation leave
\nregulation appropriately.<\/p>\n
Seven other companies stated that they would grant the two
\ndays only if the worker actually felt too ill to work. However,
\nin such cases, the woman must be examined by her supervisor
\nbefore the leave is granted.<\/p>\n
\"In most cases, a company usually persuades workers not to
\ntake time off by offering them a certain amount of money as
\ncompensation,\" said Eko Bambang Subiyantoro, the workshop
\ncoordinator.<\/p>\n
He added that some companies just sent women to medical
\nclinics where they would be given pain medication and told to
\nresume work.<\/p>\n
Head of Human Resources at PT. Benoli Inti Karya, Sunaryo,
\nconfirmed the report by saying that at his company there were
\nchecks on women workers to determine whether they were
\nmenstruating.<\/p>\n
\"We do the checks because there are many cases where women
\ntend to abuse their menstruation leave by taking it near a
\nweekend in order to have a longer holiday,\" said Sunaryo.<\/p>\n
He added that only 5 percent of women workers at his company
\ntook regular menstruation leave, the rest were satisfied with the
\ncompensation money.<\/p>\n
Sunaryo added that menstruation leave was not an issue anymore
\nbecause modern pain medication was now available, and they could
\nwork normally.<\/p>\n
Besides pregnancy and menstruation leave in the survey, other
\nfactors such as sexual harassment and other gender issues are
\nstill neglected by several companies employing women workers in
\nthe country.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/most-employers-neglect-womens-rights-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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