East Java issues circular on annual bonus

East Java issues circular on annual bonus

SURABAYA, East Java: In observance of the Idhul Fitri holidays on Dec. 16-17, 2001 and Christmas, Governor Iman Utomo issued a circular on Nov. 13, 2001, regulating that employers pay a one- month salary as an annual bonus to their workers.

"Besides the obligatory annual bonus, employers are also called on to provide basic commodities packages and transportation payments for their workers," he said here on Friday.

Muhammad Djaelani, chief of the local manpower and transmigration ministry office, said that the governor also regulated that the annual bonus should be paid at least seven days before the religious celebrations.

"Muslim workers should receive the annual bonus seven days before Idhul Fitri while Christian workers should receive it seven days before Christmas," he said.

Djaelani said the provincial administration was yet to announce the monthly minimum wages in the province because of negotiations between local labor unions, the local branch of the Indonesian Employers Association and the local government was still under way.

The present regional monthly minimum wages in the province are between Rp 441,000 (US$44.1) and Rp 453,000 ($45.3). --Antara