This Association Calls 6 Months Leave For Birth Can Lose Income

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JAKARTA - The Association of Indonesian Labor Law Teachers and Practitioners (P3HKI) provides an analysis of the impact of six months of maternity leave on workers who have the potential to lose their income.

"Actually, from the side of workers, six months of maternity leave will have an impact on losing all or part of their income," said P3HKI Chair II, Ahmad Ansyori in Medan, Monday, June 27, quoted from Antara.

This was disclosed by Ahmad in response to the Draft Law on Maternal and Child Welfare (RUU KIA) which will soon be ratified as an initiative of the DPR in a plenary meeting in Jakarta, Thursday, June 30.

In addition, he continued, there are several articles, such as Article 5, Article 6, and Article 8 of the MCH Bill which intersect with Law No. 13/2003 concerning Manpower, and there are still ambiguities in the Bill.

"There is still confusion, such as Article 6 provides a maximum provision for husbands as companions who are entitled to 40 days of leave," said Ahmad, who is a former member of the National Social Security Council (DJSN).

The P3HK expert board, Prof. Aloysius Uwiyono in a group discussion of the MCH Bill last week, said that six months of leave can be burdensome for the company, and the state must be present to help bear it.

"If the government can't help, then it can't be done. There is another way or way, namely through a collective work agreement agreed upon by the entrepreneur and the trade/labor union," he said.

In this discussion, Ahmad Ansyori gave input on three points, namely the idea that the MCH Bill should not reduce other public rights, and that labor regulations are a portion of the Ministry of Manpower (Kemnaker).

"This is a portion of the Ministry of Manpower, so the technical rules for maternity leave should be made by the Ministry of Manpower so that the coordination of labor regulations does not extend to other agencies," he said, who was also a former director of BPJS Employment during his time named BP Jamsostek.

"The three financing rights for maternity leave (maternity leave) are a small part of the MCH Bill, and the big thing is the comprehensive rights for women before giving birth. It is the responsibility of the central or regional government to pay for it, apart from maternity leave," said Ahmad.

The General Chair of P3HKI, Dr Agusmidah, said that her party wanted to help the government on the MCH Bill which intersects the Manpower Act, in particular the right to rest or maternity leave.

He stated that in fact there was already a six-month leave arrangement like in Aceh, but it only applies to ASN and the proposal to increase the period of maternity leave has been widely used with a health background.

"This 'political will' is clear, the government, workers and companies agree to improve the health and welfare of female workers," said Agusmidah, who is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of North Sumatra.