Protests in Jakarta at labor law reform

Indonesia has a labor bill, introduced in 2003 which is favorable to the employee. The Indonesian government believes this law, may be stifling business and foreign investment as it give too much power to the employee.

On Wednesday Jakarta saw street protests by people who are against changing the law. Anyone who has tried to hire staff in Bali knows the way things go. Most people do not like part time work, they prefer a full time job with a monthly salary. Taking a part time job might block them from getting a full time job somewhere else. Also most of the people who have skills including computer experience, customer elations and English language, already have jobs. There are a ton of people who are straight out of the village, but you might be better off waiting for someone better.

A manager at a large sports bar told me that he had to hire and fire employees every couple of years because of a law that requires him to give permanent employment to staff who have been with the company for more than a certain time. A strange concept, but you see it some of the older Kuta restaurants where employees who started when they were 18, are still there now they are 40.

A recent article in the Bali Advertiser talks about the correct procedure needed to terminate employment. If an employee is under contract, the company must submit a written report of the breech in company regulations to Manpower for arbitration. There is also a set of guidelines as to how much an employer must pay an employee upon termination (Service less than a year = 1 months salary, service between 1 & 2 years = 2 months salary). The recent protests aim at keeping the employee protections.