Lawyers: Dr. Julius Singara (Partner) / Rando Purba (Partner) / Hamonangan Buddhiwisnu Harahap (Senior Associate) / Yosua L. Situmorang (Associate) / Adhindra Ario Wicaksono (Associate)

LSM Law Firm is appointed by a State Owned Company for defending their interest in the arbitration proceeding.

Indonesia has officially entered into recession for the first time since the Asian financial crisis more than twenty years ago as the country still fighting to control the Covid-19 outbreak. In light of this severe financial impact and with the end of the pandemic nowhere in sight, many employers were forced to take measures to temporarily shut down offices and furloughed their employees in order to reduce expenses and keep the company afloat.
Since employment matters are sensitive issues and should be treated carefully, the question has arisen as to the appropriate approach for employers to put their employees on furlough. It is worth noting that Law Number 13 of 2003 on Manpower is silent as to whether an employer has the right to furlough employees, put them on unpaid leave of absence, or reduce their wages due to economic conditions. However, the Minister of Manpower issued three circular letters related to the economic situation namely:

1. Circular Letter Number SE-05/M/BW/1998 of 1998 regarding the Remuneration of Employees who are Temporary Laid Off is not towards Termination Employment Relationship;
2. Circular Letter Number: SE-907/MEN/PHI-PPHI/X/2004 regarding Prevention of Termination Mass Employment Relationship; and
3. Circular Letter Number: SE-643/MEN/PHI-PPHI/IX/2005 regarding Prevention of Termination Employment Relationship.

The above Circular Letters allow the employer to furlough the employees or to put the employees on rotating furlough to avoid employment termination. However, it is pivotal to understand that the wages (basic wages and fixed allowance) of those furloughed employees shall be paid in full during the period of furlough. If the employer wishes to not pay the wages in full, then the employer shall obtain employees’ consent.
In addition to the above, the Minister of Manpower has issued Circular Letter Number M/3/HK.04/III/2020 on Protection of Workers and Business Continuity in Precaution and Prevention of Covid-19 as a response to the pandemic. In this letter, it is stated that if an employer is unable or constrained to conduct its business based on the respective regional government policy, which in turn results in all or some of the employees being unable to work, in consideration of business sustainability, such employer may amend or adjust wage amounts and the means of payment based on a mutual agreement between the employer and the employees.

Based on all the above mentioned Circular Letters, it should be noted that the employer is permitted to furlough the employees. However, the employees’ consent is required in the event the employer wishes to reduce wages. This is because any policy affecting the wages of the employees would be considered as an amendment to the employment terms and therefore, it must be mutually agreed between the employer and the employees.

For More Information:

Teguh Maramis (Partner)
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Dr. Julius I.D. Singara (Partner)
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Adhindra Ario Wicaksono (Associate)
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Download LSM Updates here.

LUBIS, SANTOSA & MARAMIS
Law Firm

The Firm proudly welcomes new partner:

Rando Purba, S.H. | Dispute Resolution Practice
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

effective as of 1 February 2021

LUBIS, SANTOSA & MARAMIS
Equity Tower, 12th Floor
Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD)
Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52-53
Jakarta 12190
Indonesia

The COVID 19 pandemic situation has caused economic shock all over the world, including Indonesia, which in turn caused state revenues to decline drastically, due to the shortfall of tax and non-tax revenues. In order to generate more income, the Indonesian Government has introduced Law No. 10 of 2020 on Stamp Duties (the “Stamp Duty Law”) which came into effect on 1 January 2021 to replace Law No. 3/1985 (the “1985 Stamp Duty Law”) which has not been amended for 35 years and is deemed not in line with technological developments. The Stamp Duty Law is also intended to help the community and Small and Medium Enterprises by exempting transaction documents with nominal value of up to IDR 5 million.

The Stamp Duty Law stipulates that stamp duties shall be affixed for one time to all documents used to elaborate upon civil-related events or which are used as evidence in court (whether in hard copy or electronic form) with a flat tariff of IDR 10,000 regardless of the transaction values stated in documents, whereas the 1985 Stamp Duty Law in conjunction with Government Regulation No. 24 of 2000 adopts a two-tariff system, namely a Rp 3,000 stamp duty for documents regarding matters worth between IDR 250,000 and IDR 1 million and IDR 6,000 for documents regarding matters worth more than IDR 1 million.

The Stamp Duty Law broadly covers documents concerning civil matters such as:

1. Agreements, certificates, statement letters, or other similar letter and their copies;
2. Notarial deeds, as well as their executorial deeds (grosse) and copies; and
3. Deeds that are drawn-up by land-deed officials and their copies.
4. Securities under any name and in any form;
5. Securities transaction documents, including transaction documents for futures contracts;
6. Auction documents in the form of minutes of auction excerpt, minutes of auction, minutes of auction copy, and minutes of auction executorial deeds (grosse);
7. Documents stating sums of money in nominal values that exceed IDR 5 million and which address the receipt of money or which contain acknowledgment on full or partial payments or calculations of loans; and
8. Documents which are to be used as evidence in court.

The stamp duty is to be paid via the following media:

1. Stamps, including affixed stamp duty (meterai tempel), electronic stamps or other forms of stamp as determined by the Minister of Finance; or
2. Tax-payment slips.

Electronic stamps shall possess their own unique codes and certain information, it is intended to cover electronic commercial transaction documents with an amount exceeding IDR 5 million and its implementation will be regulated in an incoming Minister of Finance Regulation. However, as of January 2021 Indonesian Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati said in a statement that the electronic stamps is yet to be implemented on the grounds that the implementing regulation on electronic stamps are yet to be promulgated and the infrastructure for electronic stamps, is not yet ready.

The Stamp Duty Law will have 1 (one) year of transition period, whereas all affixed duty stamps printed under the 1985 Stamp Duty Law can still be used until 1 January 2022 by affixing multiple stamps until the value amounts to at least IDR 9,000 instead of the required IDR 10,000 (e.g., IDR 6,000 stamp and IDR 3,000 stamp, 2 (two) of IDR 6,000 stamps, or 3 (three) of IDR 3,000 stamps), however such duty stamps cannot be sold or traded in any way or form after 1 January 2021.

For More Information:
Teguh Maramis (Partner)
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Dr. Julius I.D. Singara (Partner)
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Gilang M. Santosa (Associate)
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Download LSM Updates here.