Omnibus Law on Job Creation and Resilience Prospects of Indonesian Migrant Workers

Abstract

The Omnibus Law on Job Creation has repealed two regulations and amended at least 80 (eighty) other laws since it was officially promulgated on November 2, 2020. Four laws are particularly affected in the labor cluster, including regulations pertaining to Migrant Workers, which have not been widely explained. The purpose of this paper is to explain the dynamics of Indonesian Migrant Workers (IMW) regulatory policy as well as several issues in the omnibus law on Job Creation. To further analyze and describe the Omnibus law's implications for IMW resilience. This research, as a policy study, makes use of secondary data in the form of statutory regulation and literature. The data were analyzed using conceptual and normative approaches, and the results were presented in a descriptive-qualitative format. According to the findings, IMW's regulatory policies included international policies emphasizing the recognition of migrant workers' rights. Meanwhile, at the national level, IMW protection policies are governed by a specific law that has evolved over time to be more accommodating to their needs. The presence of the Omnibus law, however, has changed and loosened the licensing provisions in the law for Indonesian Migrant Worker Placement Companies (P3MI), which has an impact on IMW's vulnerability. As a result, rather than being progressive, the omnibus law on Job Creation reduces the prospect of resilience for Indonesian migrant workers.

Keywords: Omnibus Law, Migrant Workers, Worker’s Right, Protection, Resilience