Semarang Census Workers Protest Delayed Wages and Unilateral Contract Changes
The 2026 Economic Census in Semarang, Central Java, has been marred by issues of delayed wage payments to field enumerators or surveyors, stemming from differing interpretations of the work agreement between Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and its partner enumerators.
A partner enumerator, Indra (not his real name), revealed that before going into the field to collect data, he signed a stamped work contract. The contract stated that his wages would be paid in two instalments. “The first instalment was to be paid on 15 July 2026 after reaching 40 per cent of the total workload and would be made one month after the implementation of the 2026 Economic Census,” Indra said in an interview on Saturday (18/7/2026).
Indra added that this was stipulated in Article 8, paragraph (3), letter a of the Work Order (SPK). The article reads: Term I is paid after the SECOND PARTY completes and submits a minimum of 40 per cent of all targeted work and has fulfilled a minimum of 1 month of data collection as stated in the Term I Work Inspection Report.
However, Indra claims the provisions of Article 8, paragraph (3), letter a were changed a few days before 15 July 2026. The change was announced to enumerators via an online meeting. “The Head of the Semarang City BPS said that the first term payment would be disbursed if the criteria from the Semarang City BPS were met. The criteria in question are completing four SLS (Local Environmental Units) where each unit area (registered residents) must reach 80 per cent,” said Indra.
Indra admitted he was baffled by the new requirement as it was not stated in the SPK. Meanwhile, Indra claimed he had already met the 40 per cent target of the hundreds of residents he was required to survey. “In the initial contract, there was no mention of completing four SLS reaching 80 per cent,” he said. “Because that rule is not in the contract, it means BPS is making up its own rules. It does not match the initial commitment when we signed the work contract,” Indra added.
He explained that each partner enumerator is responsible for several SLS, ranging from five to more than a dozen. He revealed that on 14 July 2026, the Semarang City BPS published a list of enumerators deemed to have met the requirements for the first term payment. “Out of a total of 1,200 officers, fewer than 30 passed. Yet, according to the initial contract, perhaps 50 per cent would have met the requirements for the first term payment,” he said.
According to information obtained by Indra, enumerators who the Semarang City BPS deemed to have met the requirements for the first term payment will be paid by 31 July 2026 at the latest. Meanwhile, those who did not pass the requirements will be proposed to the national BPS office. Indra questioned why the fate of their payments was being handed over to the national BPS. “We asked again, ‘When will it be disbursed?’, they answered they did not know. They said it depends on whether the national BPS approves it or not,” he said.
He admitted he was deeply disappointed with the lack of clarity. “We have worked for a month only to get a notification like that. This raises a big question mark,” said Indra. According to Indra, his position is a losing one. “Because if I resign, I will be fined almost Rp2.5 million,” he said. For this reason, Indra admitted he has not yet considered resigning, but he will only continue his work if BPS pays his entitlements.