THR Required to be Paid in Full

The Manpower Ministry will soon issue a circular on the payment mechanism of the religious holiday allowance (THR). The mechanism of payment by installments is prohibited.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Workers returning home from work in the Jalan MH Thamrin area, Jakarta, Friday (24/3/2023). The government requests that the payment of the religious holiday bonus (THR) be made no later than seven days before the Eid al-Fitr celebration.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government through the Manpower Ministry has emphasized that the religious holiday bonus or THR for 2023 will be paid no later than seven days before the Idul Fitri celebrations. The mechanism of the THR payment is required to be in full rather than by installments.

“In general, the Indonesian economy is improving. Indonesia is heading for recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. So, the THR for workers is required to be paid in full rather than in installments. The THR for civil servants will be announced by the President,” said the Manpower Ministry’s director general of industrial relations and workers’ social security, Indah Anggoro Putri, on Sunday (26/03/2023) in Jakarta.

According to Indah, for workers with a working period of 12 months or more, companies are obliged to provide the THR in full. The minimum value of the THR amounts to the salary/wage normally received by workers every month. It would be better if more than the amount could be afforded.

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Meanwhile, for workers with a working period of less than 12 months, the THR value is determined by a formula. The formula is the working period (months) divided by 12 months multiplied by the amount of the monthly salary.

The Manpower Ministry will shortly publish a circular concerning the THR, to be followed later by the setting up of a command post for complaints at the ministry office. The same posts will also be made ready at all manpower offices in all provinces.

Caution needed

A member of Commission IX of the House of Representatives from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle Faction, Edy Wuryanto, said pursuant to the Manpower Minister’s Regulation No.6/2016 on the Religious Holiday THR for Employees/Workers in Companies, workers with a working period of one straight month or more are entitled to the religious holiday THR from companies. Workers with a working period of 12 consecutive months or more are entitled to the THR worth a month’s pay.

According to Edy, the government should be cautious about the various unfair practices of companies during the month of Ramadan or the days approaching Idul Fitri. For instance, workers are dismissed before the payment of the THR, the THR is only 50 percent paid, and the THR is paid after Idul Fitri is over.

HIDAYAT SALAM

Queues for prospective travelers at the DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency Office in Jati Baru, Gambir, Central Jakarta, Friday (24/3/2023). Since morning, hundreds of people have come to the DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency office to verify documents required for free homecoming.

“Therefore, the proactive role of manpower supervisors is badly needed to ascertain that all companies will comply with the regulation in force. Even if the government opens command posts for complaints about the THR, their officers should be proactive. Post officers should take initiatives on the basis of references to case complaints of previous years,” said Edy.

Edy added that the government via the Manpower Ministry should assume a stringent attitude toward delinquent companies. The government can issue warnings, even impose a license revocation sanction on companies that have repeatedly neglected the THR payment obligation.

No problem

On a separate occasion, General Chairman of the Indonesian Entrepreneurs Association (Apindo), Hariyadi B Sukamdani, expressed the hope that this year no companies would fail in making their THR payments. In his view, industries are in a condition of gradually recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic from 2022.

“For the THR, companies usually have made ‘savings’ from the preceding year. I think the THR [for Idul Fitri 2023] should pose no problems. As long as companies are operating normally, they should have the capacity to pay the THR,” said Hariyadi.

He acknowledged the relatively improved industrial condition in 2023 compared with the period of social restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and part of 2021. At the time, a number of industrial players underwent significant reduction in sales.

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Last year, the Manpower Ministry recorded that during the period of April 8 to May 1, 2022 there were 5,496 reports received about THR 2022 complaints online. Of the total, 2,935 were complaints about THR violations and 2,561 consultations about THR payments.

Of those reported, a total of 1,688 companies were listed. Of the issues recounted, 1,384 were complaints about THR non-payments involving 794 companies, 1,200 complaints about the THR not being paid according to the rules by 694 companies, and 351 complaints about belated THR payments by 200 companies.

This article was translated byAris Prawira.