Firms told to obey new minimum wage law

Firms told to obey new minimum wage law

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja urged companies in
Jakarta yesterday to obey the government's new minimum wage
regulation.

"I don't want to comment further about this matter, but
basically all companies in the city must obey the regulation,"
Surjadi said.

The governor made the remark after the Jakarta office of the
Manpower Ministry announced on Wednesday that 33 companies had
requested a permit to delay the implementation of the new
regulation.

The chairman of the city council's Commission E for welfare,
Atje Mulyadi, said that the requests may trigger protests from
the companies' workers because they will be paid the old minimum
wage.

"If the 33 companies' requests are OK'd, their workers will be
upset because their wages will be smaller than their friends who
work at other companies," Atje said.

The city administration and the Jakarta office of the manpower
ministry should study the proposal before making a decision, he
said.

The head of the manpower office, Freddy Tuamelly, said
yesterday that the 33 companies had all submitted the required
documents.

The documents include registration forms, financial, marketing
and production development reports, wage reports, and recent
records on workers who receive wages lower than the newly set
minimum wage. The results of the latest negotiations with the
company's workers must also be included, Freddy said. He stressed
that complete documentation did not mean that a request would be
approved.

The government increased the minimum daily wage for workers in
Jakarta from Rp 4,600 to Rp 5,200 as of April 1.

Most of the 33 companies requesting a delay also objected to
the requirement that the monthly salary for permanent workers
account for 30 working days.

Previously, 40 companies had submitted objections to the
regulation, but the manpower ministry office rejected seven of
the companies. (yns)