Outsourcing ruling ‘affects industry’

BATAM: The Constitutional Court’s (MK) ruling that outsourcing employment violates the Labor Law is believed to affect the investment climate in Batam.

Rudi Syakyakirti, head of the Batam Labor Agency, said more than 50 percent of companies in Batam employed the outsourcing system in recruiting some of their workers and MK’s ruling would make them suffer.

“We are still waiting for technical regulations from the Labor and Transmigration Ministry,” he said.

The MK ruled on Jan. 17 that all chapters on contract workers and outsourcing in the Labor Law were no longer effective because they contravened the Constitution, which assures the protection of workers and their rights.

The ruling was issued following an appeal for review over labor chapters by Didik Suprijadi, who reads electricity meters under outsourcing employment, to the MK. He argued that permanent jobs such as his could be done by non-permanent workers.