42 Companies Apply for Deferred Minimum Wage Hike

Surabaya, E Java (Antara) - A total of 42 companies in East Java have applied for deferred minimum wage hike to the provincial government, an official stated. "All the companies are located in the ring 1 zone," noted Head of the East Java Provincial Manpower, Transmigration and Demography Office Hary Soegiri, here on Friday. The ring 1 zone refers to Surabaya, Sidoarjo, Gresik, Pasuruan and Mojokerto. Hary pointed out that these 42 companies employed an estimated 3,500 workers. The Provincial Manpower, Transmigration and Demography Office set December 21 as the deadline for companies to apply for a delay in the implementation of 2014 minimum wage hike. The application for deferred minimum wage hike did not mean that the companies were automatically exempt from the obligation to implement the 2014 minimum wages as they still had to meet several qualifications. The qualifications included the obligation to report financial statements, profit/loss statements, production in the past two years and approval from their labor unions to the office, he stated. Based on these reports, the government will conduct spot audits of the companies to prove the validity of the reports. The provincial government has set next year's minimum wages for Surabaya city at Rp2,200,000, Gresik district at Rp2,195,000, Sidoarjo and Pasuruan districts at Rp2,190,000, and Mojokerto district at Rp2,050,000. Last year the provincial government approved 24 of 35 applications for deferred minimum wage hike. (*)