Legal Protection for Underpaid Workers

In November, the Manpower Ministry issued the Manpower Minister? Regulation No. 18 of 2022 on the Minimum Wage for 2023. The regulation stipulates that the minimum wage rise in 2023 should not exceed 10%.?

However, as in previous years, the decision on the minimum wage rise was preceded by debates between workers and employers. The government took a middle ground to accommodate both parties.

The government's involvement in the minimum wage rise - one aspect of a decent living- is a mandate stipulated in the law. The Article 27 paragraph 2 of the 1945 Constitution in conjunction with Article 88 paragraph 1 of Law No. 11/2020 on Job Creation stipulates? that every citizen has the right to work and a livelihood worthy of humanity.

Not only in the national scope, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 131 on Minimum Wage Fixing similarly stipulates that the competent authorities in each country must, in agreement or after consultation with representative organizations of employers and workers, if any, determine the group of wage earners covered by the system.

So important and vital is the minimum wage to decent livelihoods, overcoming poverty and reducing inequality that the law prohibits employers from paying workers less than the minimum wage.

In principle, employers are prohibited from paying workers wages lower than the minimum wage, as stipulated in Article 88 E paragraph 2 of Law No.11/2020 in conjunction to Article 23 paragraph 3 of Government Regulation No. 36/2021 as follows:?

"Employers are prohibited from paying wages lower than the minimum wage"?

On the other hand, employers are obliged to pay wages to workers in accordance with an agreement that cannot be lower than the amount determined by laws and regulations.

What legal action can be taken if employers do not pay the minimum wage to their workers?

Based on Law No. 2/2004 on Industrial Relations Dispute Resolution, workers or laborers can file a lawsuit to the industrial relations court and can also take criminal action by reporting employers to the police.

Employers who are proven to pay workers less than the minimum wage are subject to imprisonment for a minimum of one year and a maximum of four years and/or a fine of at least Rp100,000,000 and a maximum of Rp400,000,000, as stipulated in Article 185 of Law No. 11 of 2020.