Hiring contract employees 'not always beneficial'
Hiring contract employees 'not always beneficial'
JAKARTA: When about 75 temporary staffs at Standard Chartered
Bank (SCB) joined a protest last week against termination of
employment contracts of 39 of them, this should have sent signals
to the corporate world that hiring contract employees is not
always beneficial.
Nevertheless, more and more companies, including multinational
companies, are opting to employ temporary staffs from recruitment
agencies to avoid paying more benefits, according to labor law
expert Apong Herlina.
Apong told The Jakarta Post here on Saturday that user
companies recruited temporary staffs to avoid difficulties that
may arise, including paying compensation, should they have to
terminate their employment contracts.
In the SCB case, the bank had successfully shifted the burden
from the bank to recruitment agency, PT Prisma Jamintara.
However, the bank would still bear the burden.
About 75 contracted employees at Standard Chartered Bank
staged a protest at the bank office on Jl. Sudirman on Friday
against the termination of the employment contracts of 39
temporary custodian and clearing staffs.
The protesters demanded the minimum compensation of five times
their monthly salary while SCB and Prisma Jamintara offered twice
the monthly salary plus other benefits.
The monthly salary for temporary custodian and clearing staffs
averages at about Rp 700,000 (about US$63).
"We need more compensation from the bank considering that we
had dedicated our life to the job," Jhon Hendri, the leader of
the protest, told the Post on Friday.
Indrayana, a lawyer from the Indonesian Workers Union
Association (ASPEK), claimed that Standard Chartered Bank had
broken a manpower ministry decree by employing staffs on a
temporary contractual basis for more than three years.
"SCB should know that clerical jobs such as custodian and
clearing service are by nature continuous and permanent job
functions that could not be fulfilled by temporary employees," he
said.
The head of the legal department at Standard Chartered Bank,
Budi Unggul Wibowo, confirmed that the bank had not extended the
contracts of 39 custodian and clearing staffs due to the economic
reasons.
"Standard Chartered Bank could not hire them as permanent
staffs. They should pursue their demands not with Standard
Chartered but with Prisma Jaminatara," Budi told the Post by
phone.
Prisma Jamintara, meanwhile, said that it took responsibility
for the severance of its contract employees by Standard Chartered
Bank.
The company said that it had offered the 39 contract employees
permanent jobs in the company. The company also said that it
would allow them to resign and give compensation according to
company' regulations. (04)