Most workers still lack insurance<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Most Indonesian workers, both at home and overseas, remain
\nunprotected, but the government appears reluctant to provide them
\nwith the sort of insurance cover they need, the president of the
\nstate social insurance provider says.<\/p>\n
The president of state-owned insurance company PT Jamsostek,
\nAchmad Junaidi, blamed the lack of worker protection on the weak
\nenforcement of Law No. 3\/1992 on national social security
\n(Jamsostek), which requires employers, foundations and other
\norganizations to pay premiums for their employees into the
\ninsurance scheme.<\/p>\n
\"Only 25 percent, or 23 million, of almost 90 million workers
\nhave been registered as members of social security programs while
\nthe majority, including the unemployed and those in the informal
\nsector, remain unprotected,\" Junaidi told The Jakarta Post here
\nover the weekend.<\/p>\n
He asserted that social security was a right of employees
\nunder the law which the government was required to provide
\nthrough their employers.<\/p>\n
\"There is a common misperception that the social security law
\napplies only to workers employed in industrial estates. In
\nreality, the programs are compulsory for all companies,
\nbusinesses, organizations and institutions employing at least 10
\nworkers, or paying Rp 1 million (US$120) or more in total
\nsalaries to their workers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Some companies and other organizations had failed to enroll
\ntheir employees in social security programs due to financial
\nconstraints or the employees' refusal to take part in the
\nschemes, Junaidi said.<\/p>\n
But many other companies, foundations and organizations had
\nenrolled only a small percentage of their employees in the social
\nsecurity scheme and did not report the true amount of their
\nworkers' gross monthly salaries to avoid paying higher premiums
\nas between 4 percent and 7 percent of the workers' insurance
\npremiums are paid by their employers.<\/p>\n
Jamsostek's total asset of Rp 23 trillion are invested in the
\nstock market and state banks, but it has rejected all suggestions
\nthat it merge with other state-owned insurance companies to form
\na larger national social security provider for all people as part
\nof its funds are raised from employers, who are loathe to cross-
\nsubsidize the unemployed, civil servants and servicemen.<\/p>\n
Jamsostek's operations and services director, Indra Haryadi,
\nsaid that under the current programs, workers suffering illnesses
\nor who suffered occupational accidents in their workplaces had
\nthe right to receive \"class A\" medical services at state-run
\nhospitals and \"class B\" services at private hospitals across the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
The dependents of workers killed during the course of their
\nemployment are entitled to receive 4,200 percent of their gross
\nmonthly salary in compensation and employees who have worked for
\nfive years or more are allowed to take their pension as a lump
\nsum if they are dismissed or resign, he added.<\/p>\n
Besides running occupational accident, health care,
\nbereavement and pension programs, Jamsostek in cooperation with
\nstate and private hospitals has established 26 trauma centers to
\nminimize the impact of occupational accidents and fatalities in
\nindustrial zones across the country<\/p>\n
Jamsostek data reveals that the number of occupational
\naccidents decreased to 20,937 in the first quarter of 2004 from
\nmore than 36,000 during the same period in 2003.<\/p>\n
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea
\nadmitted the government was facing difficulties in enforcing the
\nsocial insurance law due to the absence of coordination between
\nhis office and local governments.<\/p>\n
He also conceded that many Indonesian migrant workers overseas
\nwere not protected as they had obtained employment abroad
\nillegally.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/most-workers-still-lack-insurance-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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