Workers’ Wage Subsidies to be Distributed

Kompas/Wawan H Prabowo

Factory workers get ready to go home through the Lembang Market Terminal, Tangerang City, Banten, Saturday (28/3/2020). They lost their jobs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Wage subsidies to help offset the impact of COVID-19 are set to be distributed to workers in August 2021. Companies have been called upon to register their workers with the Workers Social Security Agency (BP Jamsostek) to make them eligible for the subsidies.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government will soon distribute wage subsidies to workers in regions enforcing level 3 or 4 of the multi-tiered public activity restrictions (PPKM). The aid is still limited to formal workers. BP Jamsostek funds need to be more evenly distributed to workers who have been impacted by the pandemic but are not yet on the BP Jamsostek registry.

Approximately 8.7 million workers will receive the wage subsidies. The first phase of aid distribution will begin with 1 million prospective recipients whose information had been submitted by BP Jamsostek to the Manpower Ministry by Friday (30/7/2021). The government hopes to distribute the funds to workers in August. The monthly wage subsidy of Rp 500,000 is provided for two months simultaneously, so each recipient will receive Rp 1 million per recipient.

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Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah said as was the case last year, the aid would be transferred directly to the accounts of recipients through members of the association of state-owned banks, which are PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero), PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero), PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) and PT Bank Tabungan Negara (Persero). Bank Syariah Indonesia will handle the distribution of subsidies in Aceh.

“For aid recipients not yet in possession of accounts with the banks, the Manpower Ministry will open collective accounts,” said Ida at a press teleconference.

Recipients are selected according to the Manpower Ministry Regulation No. 16/2021 on guidelines for government grants in the form of salary or wage subsidies to workers in dealing with the impact of COVID-19. To be eligible, workers must have been active BP Jamsostek participants as of June 2021, have a maximum monthly salary of Rp 3.5 million and work in regions enforcing PPKM level 3 or 4. They also have to work in the consumer goods industry, transportation, multifarious industries, property and real estates or trade and services (except educational and health services).

Tangkapan layar dialog Satker Penanganan Covid-19

Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah.

Workers in certain regions who have salaries higher than Rp 3.5 million per month may also receive aid. This only applies to regions with a minimum wage of over Rp 3.5 million, such as Jakarta with a minimum wage of Rp 4.4 million per month or Karawang regency whose minimum wage is Rp 4.79 million per month.

Tauhid Ahmad, the director of the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance, said wage subsidies were badly needed by workers amid the ongoing pressure of COVID-19 case spikes. He said the coverage should be made wider.

“If the aid is only based on BP Jamsostek data, the recipients are generally workers with stable incomes in relatively established companies. A lot more workers are still not yet recorded as Jamsostek participants, and they are even more impacted,” he said.

BP Jamsostek data shows that as of the end of 2020, registered workers totaled 50.69 million. Only 29.98 million of those were active participants in the scheme. In February of this year, some 90 million workers met the criteria for Jamsostek coverage. This means that only 33.3 percent of workers entitled to social security are actually active participants in BP Jamsostek.

Deputy general chairman of the Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association (Apindo), Bob Azzam, confirmed that many companies had not registered their workers with BP Jamsostek. He suggested that companies be required to register their workers before the aid is distributed, complete with the data needed.

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In this way, workers not currently registered with BP Jamsostek have a chance to receive subsidies. The same opportunity should also be given to informal workers.

“This could be the chance to improve the data on our workers, formal and informal, so that when any other crisis occurs, there’s no difficulty accessing aid,” he said.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Workers complete the Pasar Senen Block I and Block II development projects in the Senen area, Central Jakarta, on Monday (28/6/2021).

Meanwhile, BP Jamsostek President Director Anggoro Eko Cahyo said the program for wage subsidies based on BP Jamsostek data served as a reminder of the importance of Jamsostek. In the future, he said, entrepreneurs would be expected to register their workers in a more orderly manner.

“Through participation, workers are protected from occupational risks and can also gain added value like the wage subsidies,” he added.

Healthcare workers’ incentives

As for the payment of healthcare workers’ incentives, the government hopes to pay 50 percent of the total allocated incentives by August. The various constraints being faced should be promptly overcome, especially the lack of coordination between regional organizations.

On July 28, the Finance Ministry recorded that the government was financially prepared to pay the Rp 8.1 trillion in healthcare worker incentives. Only Rp 2.06 trillion of this sum has been paid, or 25.31 percent. Just 17.29 of the planned sum has been paid to workers outside Java and Bali.

Issues such as people quitting their jobs because they had received no incentives are also being reported.

Central board general chairman of the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI), Daeng M Faqih, said the unpaid incentives had caused anxieties among healthcare workers. Issues such as people quitting their jobs because they had received no incentives are also being reported.

“This case is certainly human in nature. Moreover, the incentives are most needed by healthcare workers’ families. At least if the incentives are properly paid, the healthcare workers can execute their duties more peacefully,” he said.

Regional board general chairman of the Indonesian National Nurses Association (PPNI), Harif Fadhillah, said the different constraints causing the delayed payment of incentives should be immediately tackled. Regional commitments should also be increased, particularly those with low budget realizations for incentives.

“The regulation on incentive payment is already there. The budgets needed are also available. But their implementation is lacking. Therefore, control over the implementation of incentive payment should be tightened so that it can be promptly carried out,” he added.

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

Freight forwarders wait for their customers near Johar Market, Semarang City, Central Java, pada Thursday (14/5/2020).

Director of special transfer funds for the Finance Ministry’s Directorate General of Financial Balance, Putut Hari Satyaka, said the main constraint encountered in the payment and reporting of healthcare workers’ incentives in regions was the lack of regional organizational coordination in incentive payment and reporting. In addition, there was still insufficient regional understanding of the regulation in force. (AGE/ TAN)

(This article was translated by Aris Prawira).