Union leaders in East Nusa Tenggara demanded on Wednesday that local employers immediately pay its members Idul Fitri bonuses, as required by law.
The union raised the issue after hundreds of employees in the provincial capital Kupang were reported not to have received bonuses.
Indonesian law obligates employers to pay a bonus equivalent to one month’s salary to employees for Idul Fitri.
“Paying the Idul Fitri bonus is a company obligation as required by the 2003 Employment Law,” said Stanis Tefa, head of the province’s All-Indonesia Workers Union.
Stanis said that companies must pay Idul Fitri bonuses to full-time and part-time employees.
“The amount to be paid is stipulated by employment contracts or other agreements between companies and employees,” he said.
Kupang municipal Employment and Transmigration Agency head Bernadus Benu said the agency had previously distributed information on bonuses to companies.
“We issued a circular to companies advising them to pay bonuses as soon as possible. Stern sanctions will be imposed on stubborn companies,” Bernadus said.
Several workers in Kupang said that they were unaware of their right to Idul Fitri bonuses from their employers. “We were never informed,” said Thomas Binlasi, an employee at a building material store in Kupang.
Thomas said that dozens of employees who had worked at the store since 2003 were paid under oral agreements.
“We don’t have the guts to ask [about bonuses] because we’re worried that we may be fired or brought to court. It’s better to keep silent and keep on working according to the agreed salary,” he said.
Several companies said that they did not pay bonuses because they did not have written agreements with their employees. “They are not full-time workers even though they have been working for our company for dozens of years,” said a furniture company owner on Jl. Timor Raya, Kupang.
Aminah, a restaurant owner in Kupang, said she did not pay bonuses but gave her 11 employees gifts of clothing or cookies for Idul Fitri.
“I cannot even pay them the minimum wage set by the Kupang administration. It’s impossible for me to pay bonuses,” Aminah said.
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