{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1033738,
        "msgid": "open-audit-of-firms-called-for-1447893297",
        "date": "1996-06-11 00:00:00",
        "title": "Open audit of firms called for",
        "author": null,
        "source": "JP",
        "tags": null,
        "topic": null,
        "summary": "Open audit of firms called for JAKARTA (JP): The government should first conduct open audits on the financial situations of companies before granting their requests for exemptions from the minimum wage regulation, a lawyer says. Teten Masduki, head of the Workers Division at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, said that the audits should be completed by public accountants, not those appointed by the government.",
        "content": "<p>Open audit of firms called for<\/p>\n<p>JAKARTA (JP): The government should first conduct open audits<br>\non the financial situations of companies before granting their<br>\nrequests for exemptions from the minimum wage regulation, a<br>\nlawyer says.<\/p>\n<p>Teten Masduki, head of the Workers Division at the Indonesian<br>\nLegal Aid Foundation, said that the audits should be completed by<br>\npublic accountants, not those appointed by the government. The<br>\nsecrecy which surrounds government audits of companies is reason<br>\nenough for some people to oppose the exemption, he pointed out.<\/p>\n<p>Teten was responding to the recent government decision to<br>\nexempt 215 companies from the minimum wage regulation that went<br>\ninto effect on April 1, accepting that they were experiencing<br>\nfinancial difficulties in enforcing it.<\/p>\n<p>Four other companies who applied for exemption were turned<br>\ndown because they could not back up their claims with any data.<br>\nThis is the largest exemption ever granted by the government.<\/p>\n<p>The new minimum wage levels saw an average increase of just<br>\nover 10 percent. At the same time, the government required<br>\ncompanies to pay their workers, temporary or permanent, on the<br>\nbasis of 30 working days.<\/p>\n<p>Teten acknowledged that some companies do face many financial<br>\ndifficulties due to the overall economy, including high bank<br>\ninterest rates, which range between 16 to 20 percent.<\/p>\n<p>However, he pointed out, the wages constitute only a fraction<br>\nof total production costs. The wages of textile company workers,<br>\nfor instance, constitute only four percent of total textile<br>\nproduction costs.<\/p>\n<p>Lendo Novo, a staff member of the Indonesian Textile<br>\nAssociation, recently said that, compared to other Asian<br>\ncountries, Indonesian workers' measure of cost was low.<\/p>\n<p>In Vietnam, workers' wages constitute 9 percent of total<br>\ncosts, South Korea's, 14 percent and Japan's 20 percent.<\/p>\n<p>Teten said that most of the companies applying for exemptions<br>\nare labor-intensive, with 8,000 to 12,000 workers. (16)<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/open-audit-of-firms-called-for-1447893297",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}