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Holiday bonuses are here, but so is inflation
As of Tuesday, the Manpower Ministry has received 4,058 reports from people claiming they had not received the holiday bonuses they were entitled to.
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J
oko, a Jakarta-based legal consultant, is grateful to the firm he has been with for several years. As Idul Fitri approaches, the law requires his employer to give him a holiday bonus (THR).
Seven days before Idul Fitri, just meeting the deadline set by the government for businesses to pay out the THR, Joko got what he expected: full payment according to the law. He put the extra income into his savings account.
Not all workers are as fortunate as Joko. As of Tuesday, the Manpower Ministry has received 4,058 reports of possible wrongdoing in the disbursement of THR, according to the ministry’s secretary-general, Anwar Sanusi.
"Regarding the reports received so far, we will settle them 100 percent," he said.
A Manpower Ministry circular stipulates that employers are no longer granted the leniency to postpone THR payments or provide them in installments, as they had been allowed to do in the last two years when the COVID-19 caused economic hardship for employers and employees alike.
Grateful for having received his fair share, Joko said the government should be more active in ensuring others, too, got what they are owed under the law.
"I think [the ministry] should create a better whistleblowing system for workers. I have heard of several instances where workers are threatened," said Joko.
