Medan, N Sumatra (ANTARA News) - For the first time in North Sumatra, the management of a private company is currently being tried in court for failing to include its workers in the mandatory Workers Social Insurance (Jamsostek) program.
Joni, chief executive officer of plastic recycling company PT Multi Jaya, appeared in a Medan District Court session here Tuesday to answer charges that his company had failed to meet its obligation to have its workers covered by the Jamsostek program.
The company`s failure came to light after one of its workers died in a work-related accident in January 2009 and his family received nothing in compensation because their breadwinner proved not to have been registered as a Jamsosetek program participant.
PT Inti Jaya had also failed to report the accident in which worker Chairil Iksan died to the local manpower authorities within the prescribed time of 2 X 24 hours.
Under Manpower Law No 13 of 2003 and Law No 3 of 2009, PT Inti Jaya`s CEO was facing a maximum jail sentence of four years and a fine of Rp50 million for his company`s negligence.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for PT Jamsostek`s Binjai office said Joni`s arraignment in court on Tuesday marked the first time for a company chief in North Sumatra to face charges for violating the law on workers` social security.
He said PT Jamsosstek was hoping the court would mete out the appropriate penalty to the company concerned so as to remind other companies in the region of their obligation to have their workers covered by the Jamsostek program.
Under existing manpower laws and regulations, every company employing at least 10 people and paying at least Rp1 million in wages per worker must take part in the Jamsostek program, he said. (*)