95 firms violate manpower regulations
95 firms violate manpower regulations
JAKARTA (JP): The government has prosecuted 12 companies this
year and will send 83 others to court for alleged violations of
manpower regulations, a Ministry of Manpower official said
yesterday.
The ministry chief spokesman Fachri Thaharuddin said to Antara
that most are being prosecuted either for violating minimum wage
regulations or for failure to provide mandatory social insurance,
overtime payment, work leave and safe working environments.
Twenty companies are located in Jakarta, 21 in West Java, 25
in East Java, 21 in North Sumatra, five in West Nusa Tenggara,
one in Aceh and two in Central Java.
He said the government won court battles against the 12
companies that have been prosecuted so far. Their form of
punishment ranged between fines from Rp 75,000 to Rp 750,000 to
jail terms of three months.
The other 83 companies are expected to be tried soon. Fachri
said the government is determined to take action against all
delinquent companies.
He admitted, however, that monitoring all of the companies is
a gigantic task, especially considering the ministry's lack of
personnel. "There are only about 800 officers to monitor the
activities of 140,000 companies," he said.
He said the government is counting on the All Indonesian Labor
Union (SPSI) and the workers to come forward to report on any
violations by their employers.
Fachri said most of the violations occurred in companies which
did not have any trade union representatives. The government
would continue to encourage workers to establish labor unions in
their companies so that they could be stronger in defending their
rights and their welfare, he added.
On a separate occasion Suwarto, the ministry's Director
General of Guidance and Control, said that the government was
fully aware that the current penalties for violation of labor
laws were too lenient.
The Ministry of Manpower is currently drafting on new labor
laws with stiffer penalties, Suwarto said.
The draft has already been sent to the State Secretariat which
will make certain amendments before presenting it to the House of
Representatives for deliberation.
He said he expected the bill to become law by April.
The new law will provide more legal protection for workers and
guarantee safety in the workplace so that they will be more
comfortable and improve their productivity, he said.
It will cover issues on the wage system, labor unions,
manpower, social insurance, work leave as well as workers'
health, safety and education.(sim)