Regulations on household help<\/p>\n
The media frequently reports on household help who have had
\nsaddening experiences in their employment both abroad and at
\nhome. Such experiences have included maltreatment, rape and
\nmurder by their employers, unpaid salaries, low wages, long
\nworking hours, no insurance, accidents in the work place, abuse
\nof work agreements by employers, the absence of proper
\naccommodation and the lack of nutritional food.<\/p>\n
The long list of poor conditions experienced by household help
\nis due to the absence of regulations protecting them. The Jakarta
\nregional administration has Regional Regulation No.6\/1993 on the
\nwelfare of household help in Jakarta, but the regulation is
\nfocused more on the regional revenues obtained from household
\nhelp agencies and less on adequate legal protection for household
\nhelp.<\/p>\n
Law No.25\/1997, Articles 158 and 159 on the informal sector,
\nas well as the bill for its perfection now being discussed at the
\nmanpower ministry does not regulate clearly the forms of
\nprotection for household help. As in most laws, the two articles
\nabove only rely on their implementation in the lower-level
\nregulations which at present is yet to be made. According to the
\nlatest information from the ministry's legal office the
\nregulations especially for the informal sector in the above bill
\nare planned to be abolished because there is no need for
\ndifferentiation of the formal and informal terms.<\/p>\n
Honestly speaking, the Legal Aid Institute-Indonesian Women's
\nAssociation for Justice (LBH-APIK) has its objections if the term
\ninformal sector is really abolished, at least in consideration of
\nthe specific situation of the workers of the informal sector. The
\nvarious situations experienced by household help described above
\nindicate the minimum of protection for them so that the
\nregulations of the informal sector must be maintained to ensure
\nprotection.<\/p>\n
Moreover, consideration must be given to the recommendation by
\na Team for Legal Studies held by the Ministry of Justice in
\ncooperation with Agency for National Legal Development, in which
\nthe LBH-APIK is involved, i.e. the recommendation that follow-up
\nsteps be taken of Articles 158 and 159 of the Manpower Law by
\nmaking regulations on the welfare and legal protection for
\nhousehold help, such as wages, work limitations, safety,
\noccupational health, life insurance, protection against violence
\nand the mechanism for settling conflicts or legal remedies
\nbetween household help and their employers.<\/p>\n
In the context of following up on the recommendations the LBH-
\nAPIK is conducting studies to make a legal drafting of a
\ngovernment regulation bill on the protection of household help in
\ncooperation with the Yogyakarta network of handling household
\nhelp matters such as Tjut Nya' Dien, PKBI Yogya, SBPY and
\nYabinkas.<\/p>\n
RATNA BATARA MUNTI<\/p>\n
LBH-APIK<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/regulations-on-household-help-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }