Rights of Domestic Workers Regulated in the Domestic Workers Protection Act

The House of Representatives has ratified the Domestic Workers Protection Act (UU PPRT) following discussions that had been stalled for 22 years. The ratification of this act took place during a plenary session of the DPR at the Parliamentary Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday, 21 April 2026.

Based on the draft agreed upon by the DPR and the government, the Domestic Workers Protection Act contains 12 chapters and 37 articles. One of them regulates the scope of domestic work as outlined in Article 10.

That regulation states there are ten scopes of duties that domestic workers must perform for their employers. These include cooking; washing and ironing clothes; cleaning the house; cleaning the yard and/or garden; caring for children, the sick, the elderly, people with special needs, and/or persons with disabilities; driving; guarding the house; caring for pets; and other domestic work agreed upon by both parties.

In addition to providing certainty regarding the boundaries of work that domestic workers must perform, the UU PPRT also regulates the rights of domestic workers. There are at least 14 rights that domestic workers receive, as contained in Article 15.

These rights include practising worship according to their respective religion and beliefs, working humane hours, obtaining rest time, obtaining leave in accordance with the agreement or employment contract, obtaining wages in accordance with the agreement or employment contract, obtaining religious holiday allowances in the form of money, and receiving social assistance from the central government.

Furthermore, domestic workers are now entitled to healthy food, a safe and healthy working environment, decent accommodation, the ability to terminate the employment relationship if the employer does not fulfil the agreement, and social security for health and employment.

Regarding the right to health social security, the contributions are borne by the central government or regional government for domestic workers as recipients. Meanwhile, for domestic workers who are not eligible for contribution assistance, health social security is borne by the employer based on the agreement or employment contract known to the neighbourhood head (RT/RW).

However, contributions for employment social security are borne by the employer. “Further provisions regarding health social security contributions and employment social security contributions are regulated in government regulations,” as stated in Article 16 paragraph 4 of the UU PPRT.

Deputy Speaker of the DPR Cucun Ahmad Syamsurijal stated that the UU PPRT was created to provide legal certainty, protection of rights, decent wages, and humane working hours for Indonesian domestic workers. He hopes that all the provisions that have been regulated can protect domestic workers from acts of violence, exploitation, and discrimination.

“The UU PPRT can close the legal vacuum that for decades has left millions of domestic workers in employment relationships that operate without clear protection standards,” said Cucun in his statement as quoted on Friday, 24 April 2026.

This politician from the National Awakening Party also urged the government to draft implementing regulations for the UU PPRT with an implementation model that can be accepted by both domestic workers and employers. “If the implementation is too bureaucratic, it will instead create a gap between the spirit of legal protection and everyday practice in the field,” he said.