The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Supports Companies To Overcome Employees' Financial Problems: Don't Let Them Be Victims Of Illegal Loans

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) supports special services where companies can help their workers overcome the problems they face, especially during difficult times amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Communication and Informatics Firlie H Ganinduto said the pandemic had a major impact on a number of sectors.

As a result, millions of workers from these and other industries have also been affected by the company's financial difficulties. Companies cannot do much when their employees are in difficult financial situations such as urgent expenses related to COVID-19 care and treatment for themselves or their family members.

"Companies must pay attention to the financial condition of their employees to maintain productivity", he said, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, September 15.

Firlie also welcomed Wagely's Earned Wage Access (EWA) service and considered the service an emergency to be implemented in Indonesia as a form of the company's good faith in helping employees' financial liquidity, maintaining productivity, as well as preventing employees from predatory lending.

The pandemic conditions have made many people, especially workers who do not have emergency funds, take shortcuts, by borrowing from illegal online loans (borrowing) for unexpected expenses.

Data from the Financial Services Authority (OJK) records that from 2018 to July 2021 there have been 3.365 illegal loans whose operations have been stopped by the Investment Alert Task Force. A total of 7.128 complaints came in from the public regarding illegal borrowing.

As a result, many workers or laborers are entangled in illegal borrowing, which is often due to an urgent need for emergency funds, especially in the midst of the current pandemic.

"If we look at the urgency, nothing is more urgent than now. This is a new innovation from the digital economy that needs to be socialized to companies because not many industries are aware of this solution. EWA is something that is a common practice, abroad also common practice. The timing is right, it's just a matter of introducing this concept to the company", added Firlie.

Wagely Co-Founder and CEO Tobias Fischer said the financial health platform Wagely was founded with a mission to support the company's efforts to improve employee well-being, especially their health and financial resilience through EWA services.

"Employee performance and productivity are affected by their financial condition, and in the end these conditions can negatively affect the company's performance and profitability. EWA services from Wagely are in line with Financial Services Authority's (OJK) efforts to prevent people from being trapped in the debt bondage of illegal online loans", concluded Tobias.

The EWA service allows workers to disburse salaries proportionally from the working days that have been done without the need to wait for the salary disbursement date that has been set by the company.

This innovation can provide peace of mind for workers who are facing financial problems. EWA can be a solution for workers in dealing with unexpected expenses and help workers to avoid loan sharks or illegal loan sharks that charge unreasonable interest.

On the other hand, the EWA is also considered as an important new solution to help maintain the financial well-being and resilience of employees, from the company's perspective.