Indonesia: Industrial relations

Updating author: Syahdan Z. Aziz, SSEK Legal Consultants
Original authors: Lia Alizia and Candace Anastassia Limbong, Makarim & Taira S.

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Summary

• Workers have the right to establish and join trade unions, and officially registered trade unions have various entitlements, such as to enter into collective agreements and represent employees on various bodies. (See Trade unions)
• Officially registered trade unions with a certain level of membership or support among employees are entitled to negotiate collective agreements with employers, and statutory rules govern matters such as the content, duration and effect of collective agreements. (See Collective bargaining and agreements)
• Enterprises with 50 or more employees are obliged to set up a "bipartite cooperation body" for communication and consultation on employment issues between the employer and employee representatives. (See Informing and consulting employees - general)
• There is no specific statutory regulation (or definition) of collective redundancies or specific obligation on employers to inform and/or consult the employees affected, although, as with most dismissals, the employer is generally required to follow a statutory termination procedure before making redundancies, which includes negotiations with employees or trade unions. (See Informing and consulting prior to redundancies)
• There is no general statutory obligation on employers to inform and/or consult employees prior to business transfers, although limited-liability companies must inform employees in advance about merger, acquisition and spin-off plans. (See Informing and consulting prior to transfers)
• Industrial relations disputes, including disputes arising out of collective bargaining, are subject to a staged dispute-resolution procedure that involves negotiations, followed by mediation, conciliation or arbitration and, where no agreement is reached, a decision by the Industrial Relations Court. (See Industrial relations disputes)
• Employees and trade unions may hold a strike and employers may organise a lock-out where no agreement to resolve an industrial relations dispute can be reached through negotiations. (See Industrial action)