According to the Indonesian ministry of manpower, the Domestic Workers Bill aims to eliminate all forms of discrimination, exploitation, violence, and harassment against domestic workers. It will formally recognise domestic workers as entitled to a decent livelihood, normative rights, and protection.
The bill aims to provide education and training, balanced rights and obligations between workers and employers, reasonable working hours, one full day off per week, 12 days of annual leave, health and employment insurance and a minimum working age of 18 years. It also aims to punish physical assault.
However, the bill lacks specifics on minimum wage and working hour limits. It merely requires an employer-employee contract to mention wage and reasonable hours, without defining these terms. Issues such as unionisation are also not addressed.
Domestic workers who are hired directly by a household, rather than via an employment agency, are not covered by the bill.
Although the Domestic Workers Bill has made some progress, it has stalled at various stages. Initially proposed by the National Domestic Workers Advocacy Network in 2004, the bill was included in the National Legislation Program for 2005-2009. The House has since conducted research and comparative studies across various cities in Indonesia.
In July 2020, the bill entered the Legislative Body (Baleg), and by March 2023, it was designated as one of the House’s Initiative Bills.
In April 2023, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo submitted the Problem Inventory List (DIM) to the House leaders and appointed five ministries to discuss the bill with the House. The DIM is an opportunity to identify specific problems to be resolved in the draft legislation, and a normal step in the process of bringing a bill to law.
However, no major progress has happened since then.
If no agreement is reached on the inventory by the end of the current legislative period, the bill will not carry over to the next term and will need to restart from the planning stage for the 2024-2029 period.
“Holding the bill hostage means holding 5 million domestic workers in Indonesia hostage,” stated JALA PRT’s Lita Anggraini.
