Legal Literacy - Wages are a fundamental right for workers to meet their needs for a decent life. This article discusses the urgency of wage regulation in the Manpower Law, starting from the definition of wages, the wage payment system, to the calculation of overtime pay.

Urgency of Wage Regulation in Law 13/2003

Policy system (policy system) of a country, of course the government has an important role in determining the minimum wage based on the Decent Living Needs (KHL) indicator before the Job Creation Law. In this case, the government and society have a reciprocal relationship between the 3 elements of policy, namely the environment, actors and the public. Wage regulation has an urgency in building synergy between workers and employers, on the other hand wages are also a basic thing in an employment contract which is certainly related to the welfare of workers.

Law 13/2003 concerning Manpower contains regulations regarding wages which are an important component in worker protection. Article 88 states that wages are a right obtained by workers in order to fulfill a decent living. The definition of a decent living is the nominal wage from a job that can meet the living needs of workers and their families fairly in terms of education, housing, clothing, food, health, holidays and guarantees for old age. Just for information that Law 13/2003 has been replaced by Law 6/2023 concerning the Stipulation of Government Regulations in Lieu of Law Number 2 of 2022 concerning Job Creation into Law.

Legally, the presence of "wages" is contained in Article 27 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia which states that "every citizen has the right to work and a decent living". It is also written in Article 28D paragraph (2).

It is also stated in Article 33 paragraph (1), namely that "the economy is structured as a joint effort based on the principle of kinship". The presence of wages regulated in legislation is a form of legal protection for workers. Actually, from the beginning it was clearly regulated in Pancasila, namely "Social justice for all Indonesian people". This principle philosophically emphasizes creating justice in all lines of people's lives, including in terms of employment, namely wages. Pancasila as staatfundamentalnorm should be applied by both the community and the government. “Norms in people’s lives should interact with developments and patterns of social change”

The Urgency of Wage Regulation in the Manpower Law: Protecting Workers' Rights and Improving Welfare
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The government should pay attention to workers' wages as mandated by laws and regulations. The form of policy related to worker/labor wages is stated in Article 88 paragraph (3) of Law 13/2003, namely: