Indonesia commits to strengthen labour administration and inspection systems

JAKARTA (Joint Press Release): In the world of work, labour inspection is the most important instrument of the state for ensuring labour law compliance in the areas such as industrial relations, wages, working conditions, occupational safety and health, and social security. Labour inspection also plays an important role in persuading the social partners of the need to observe the law at the workplace and their mutual interest in this regard, through preventive, educational and, where necessary, enforcement measures.

Indonesia has ratified ILO Convention No. 81 on Labour Inspection. However, there are still challenges in ensuring an effective and modern system of labour inspection in the country. Some of the major challenges include inadequate coordination between the central and regional governments on labour inspection, inadequate training for labour inspectors, poor infrastructure and a lack of technical equipment, the changing nature of employment relationships, and the need to extend protections to vulnerable workers in the informal economy.

In response to these challenges, the International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration will conduct a High-Level Meeting on Labour Inspection on 20 October 2011 at the Borobudur Hotel, Jakarta. This high-level meeting will conclude with the signing of a declaration on labour inspection by the Minister of Manpower and Transmigration, Muhaimin Iskandar and worker and employer representatives.

The high-level meeting aims to strengthen labour inspection services though the effective implementation of Presidential Decree No. 21 of 2010 on strengthening Labour Inspection in Indonesia. The meeting also aims to improve coordination and collaboration among relevant stakeholders from other government ministries, as well as with workers and employers at the national, provincial and district levels. It further provides a forum for dialogue to point the way forward towards building a more modern and effective labour administration and inspection system in Indonesia.

The high-level meeting marks the final activity this year under the ILO’s Norwegian funded project on Building Modern and Effective Labour and Administration and Inspection Systems. The project started in Indonesia in January 2011 and included a series of training courses for labour inspectors. As a final training activity, a two-day course will be held from 21 – 22 October to develop a labour inspection training strategy for Indonesia and to identify especially talented inspectors who will become expert trainers for other labour inspectors throughout the country.

“The importance of improved labour inspection and safe work management has been part of the essential components of the Indonesian Jobs Pact, which signing was witnessed by the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in April 2011. The Pact has emphasized the importance of labour inspection services in improving labour productivity in the underpinning of social protection at work for Indonesia,” said Peter van Rooij, Country Director of the ILO in Indonesia, adding that he hopes that the meeting will strengthen the effectiveness of the Indonesian labour inspectors and ultimately compliance with national labour laws.

In Indonesia, there were 1,468 active labour inspectors at the end of 2010 at the provincial and district/city levels, with an additional 124 inspectors at the national level for a total of 1,592 labour inspectors. While labour inspectors work across all of Indonesia, the majority are concentrated in Java with the largest number working in West Java, Central Java, East Java and North Sumatra and the Directorate.

Provinces with fewer than 10 inspectors include West Nusa Tenggara, Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, North Maluku and West Papua. While all provinces have labour inspectors, only 201 out of the 349 districts/cities have labour inspectors. The Government expects that all districts/cities will have labour inspectors in the near future.

Based on data from the first semester of 2011, there were 4,777 cases of work accidents, 87 of work-related diseases and 47 of poisoning. Also, out of a total of 4,057 companies inspected, 3,517 were given warning letters by inspectors to bring their practices into compliance with the law.

For further information please contact:

Lusiani Julia
Programme Officer
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Gita Lingga
Media Relations Officer
Tel.: +6221 3913112 ext. 115
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