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No permits required by foreigners in start-ups
The sweeping bill states that foreign workers must get written permits except for members of boards of directors and commissioners, diplomatic and consular staff, those working at start-ups, in professional training, on business visits, doing research for a short period or doing machine maintenance for production in emergency situations.
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Starting up: The Jakarta Smart City Hive (JSCHive) coworking space in Karet Kuningan, South Jakarta, was established by the city administration in collaboration with EV Hive coworking space to support the development of digital start-ups. (The Jakarta Post/Seto Wardhana)
T
he omnibus bill on job creation would scrap requirements for foreign workers in start-ups to obtain written permits, a move seen by businesses as an effort to help bridge the country’s skills gap.
The sweeping bill states that foreign workers must get written permits except for members of boards of directors and commissioners, diplomatic and consular staff, those working at start-ups, in professional training, on business visits, doing research for a short period or doing machine maintenance for production in emergency situations.
A presidential regulation would be issued to regulate certain positions and service periods to be fulfilled by the foreign workers.
Meanwhile, the current Labor Law stipulates that only diplomatic and consular staff are exempted from getting the written permits.
Read also: Key points of labor reform in omnibus bill on job creation: What we know so far
“It’s OK to hire foreign workers,” Indonesia E-Commerce Association (idEA) chairman Ignatius Untung told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. “But instead of exempting them from acquiring a permit, the government can make the permit application easier.”
The government initiated the bill to cut regulatory red tape and ease business processes in a hope to attract more investment to jack up the country’s sluggish economic growth. If passed into law, the bill would amend more than 1,000 articles in some 80 prevailing laws.
