The House of Representatives and representatives of eight ministries agreed during their meeting on Monday that nonpermanent workers who failed to pass a civil servant enrollment test (CPNS) would be offered alternatives.

Data from the Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry shows that in 2013, as many as 438,590 nonpermanent workers failed to pass CPNS tests. Most of them were administrative workers.

“There should be political policies for around 438,000 non-permanent workers who have not yet been accommodated in the civil servant enrollment tests,” said Syarifudin Hasan, a member of the House’s Commission I, which oversees defense, foreign affairs and information.

He said nonpermanent civil servants had contributed greatly to the state; hence, they had a right to get decent work conditions.

Responding to this issue, Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Deputy Minister Setiawan Wangsaatmadja said the government would conduct an internal discussion to come up with solutions to the issue.

“The government has prepared some options for people who don’t pass the civil servant enrollment test,” he said as quoted by kompas.com on Monday.

Regarding the first option, Setiawan said, nonpermanent workers who were still eligible to attend the CPNS selection processes were allowed to take the tests.

“Second, for those who are no longer eligible to attend a CPNS recruitment process but are still fit to serve as a PPPK [contract-based government employee] are also permitted to attend the selection,” said Setiawan.

The House of Representatives and the government will conduct a second joint meeting in July to elaborate on options for the workers. (dpk/ebf)