Not THR, But Legal Umbrellas For Partnership Workers Are More Important

Online motorcycle taxi drivers who are members of the Indonesian Transport Workers Union (SPAI) oray during a demonstration at the Office of the Ministry of Manpower, Jakarta, Monday (17/2/2025). (ANTARA/Sulthony Hasanuddin/rwa)

JAKARTA The desire of online motorcycle taxi drivers to receive holiday allowances (THR) has received fresh air after the Minister of Manpower (Menaker) Yassierli said the government officially issued a policy related to these demands.

Regarding the THR, it is stated in the Circular Letter of the Minister of Manpower Number M / 3 / HK.04.00 / III / 2025 concerning the Giving of Religious Holiday Bonuses for 2025 for Drivers and Couriers at Application-Based Transportation Services.

"I urge all application-based transportation service companies to provide holiday bonuses to online drivers and couriers in the form of cash," he said at a press conference, in Jakarta, Tuesday (11/3/2025).

Regarding the criteria for online transportation drivers or online motorcycle taxis (ojol) and couriers who are entitled to BHR, it can be seen from the level of productivity and good performance over the past year.

Minister of Manpower Yassierli said, BHR is given proportionally according to performance in cash with a calculation of 20 percent of the average net income over the last 12 months.

However, according to a number of labor observers, there are more pressing issues that need the government's attention and that is not just a THR appeal.

The THR-related call for drivers and couriers has been strong in the last few days, having previously held a demonstration in front of the Ministry of Manpower building in February.

The THR issue for motorcycle taxis has actually been a concern for a long time. Since online motorcycle taxis paved in Indonesia around 2015, no THR has been given by applicators or transportation service companies.

Instead of THR, ojol drivers only get a bonus for Eid al-Fitr, which is nominally small. And, the bonus is also only obtained if the driver attracts passengers on Hari Raya. According to Nailul Huda, Director of DigitalCenter of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS), there are several things that are at the root of the driveronline demand.

Huda explained that this online transportation problem is the absence of regulations that oversee drivers. According to him, current regulations are aimed at several ministries, for example regulations regarding tariffs at the Ministry of Transportation, regulations on the form of partnerships are with the Ministry of MSMEs.

"Meanwhile, the regulation of relations between platforms and drivers has entered into partnerships. There is no regulation regulated by the Ministry of Manpower because it is in the form of a partnership," said Huda.

Meanwhile, Trisakti University Law Professor Aloysius Uwiyono said regulations that form the basis for determining relationships between companies and individuals are included in the category of formal or non-commissioned employment relations in Law Number 13 of 2003 concerning Manpower and are updated by Law Number 6 of 2023 concerning Job Creation (change of Job Creation Law No. 11 of 2020).

He explained that the work relationship must fulfill the three main elements, namely work, orders, and wages. This is written in Article 1 paragraph (15) of the Employment Law.

"In terms of work, driver partners do work in the form of passenger or freight transportation, but this is done independently without coercion," Aloysius said in a written statement.

Regarding the elements of the order, Aloysius assessed that there was no work order from the application company. What is there is precisely a work order given by consumers by ordering through the application. In this case, he said, driver-partners have complete freedom in determining when and how they work.

In addition, Aloysius also explained that online drivers do not get a fixed wage from application companies, but driver-partners pay a certain amount of money to application companies as an application rental fee and get a share of the proceeds from the rates paid by consumers based on the revenue-sharing agreement.

"Because these labor elements are not fulfilled, driver-partners are juridically not workers who are entitled to allowances and protection such as THR owned by permanent workers as rights as regulated by the Ministry of Manpower," he said.

Ahead of Eid Al-Fitr 2024, the government also issued a Circular Letter of the Minister of Manpower Number 2 of 2024 stating that religious THR for workers is an effort to meet the needs of workers/laborers and their families in welcoming religious holidays.

Just like this year, the circular letter is also only in the form of an appeal. Labor experts from Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Nabiyla Risfa Izzati said the government played safe by issuing a circular about religious THR.

Nabiyla said that the circular letter in the form of an appeal was only a shortcut by the government as if it had done something even though it was not binding.

He also again emphasized that the problems that exist are not about the THR, but about the rules of the relationship between the platform and online motorcycle taxi drivers, which according to Nabiyla is still unclear.

Work relationships have been referred to as partnership relationships' where in Indonesia there is no exact regulation. Therefore, when there are labor demands that are normative, such as THR, it will be difficult to give.

"During this "tenagakership relationship" issue, there is no legal basis, so the THR problem for online motorcycle taxi drivers will continue to rotate every year," said Nabiyla.

He also highlighted the labor law in Indonesia, which is not responsive enough to see phenomena in the economic world that are actually not too new, including the existence of new types of jobs such as motorcycle taxis.

"This is a criticism that has been given a lot of experts. Employment regulations are the least responsive. In fact, other ministry regulations such as the Ministry of Transportation are responding to the emergence of online platforms," he explained.

According to Nabiyla, this happened because it seems that it is not political enough for the government to regulate the rights of online motorcycle taxi drivers.