Wow! Plane ticket home after the year!

[gado-gado]

Ok so the general impression I get during the last few months is that schools/immigration/manpower-whoever are being 'stricter' in the enforcement of Indonesian laws relating to the employment of expats as teachers-in other words they aren't 'looking the other way' so readily when it comes to those who don't possess the minimum requirement of a degree. Maybe this new 'stricter enforcement' of the laws is having a positive effect for the teachers as well! As an example-for my current position I was required to submit a copy of my transcripts in addition to photocopy of the degree certificate. [Never been asked to provide that before-no problem I have two or three authenticated copies.] Imagine my surprise when I saw the 'return flight to country of origin' in my contract. Now it turns out that this is required by law-has been for a while, maybe the schools themselves will start[have started!] abiding by the law when it comes to providing for the teachers. I've been stupid in that I've worked for two schools in the last five years and never challenged them with the flight requirement-I got fobbed off by HRD with the 'that only applies to hires outside the country' bull.

[kingwilly]

Good for you!

*hmmm, that sounds sarcastic, its not meant to be*

[waarmstrong]

Good for you, juga. Enjoy you trip home.

[atlantis]

Many of us are blaming Indonesia for the corruption of the system at every level. However, the efforts done by SBY administration to socialize the existing laws to the general public and to those in charge to apply the law and the effort to produce regulations to implement them are impossible to ignore. Thus, in the past 6 years, the level of law knowledge has increased a lot among pejabat. The Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat is a very slow and lazy institution when it comes to elaborate statutes (undang-undang) but at the opposite, the government, its ministries and directorates are quite prolific to elaborate regulations (peraturan pemerintah, peraturan menteri and peraturan DitJen) to implement these laws and detail their procedures. Depdiknas (Ministry of National Education), Depkeu (Ministry of Finance) and Depnakertrans (Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration) are three ministries who are among the most prolific one. To be honest, I am impressed by the number of regulations they have issued in 2009 and 2010. Therefore with more guidelines explaining the procedures the effect on the field can't be ignored.
Depkumham (Ministry of Justice an Human Rights) is at the opposite one of the slowest and it is not a surprise to find out that the administrations which belong to or are related to it (kehakiman, kejaksaan, imigrasi...etc) are ranking high in surveys concerning corruption. Even with it's numerous direktorat, the number of regulations is astonishingly low. Anyway, I understand that in a country where most of the political elite is profiting largely of the corruption, there is no incentive in improving anything related to justice. Imigrasi, being one of the Direktorat included in Depkumham has adopted the pace of the whole Ministry: slow in the morning, very slow in the afternoon. It explains why it is still a big mess when it comes to general immigration rules.
The "return flight to country of origin" is a legal obligation emanating from the 1992 Immigration Act and the 2003 Manpower Act. To be issued a visa or to be issued a work perrmit a foreigner MUST have a return/onward ticket. The Manpower Act has given the responsability of this ticket to the company employing the foreigner. The reason is simple: at the end of the contract/visa, Indonesia doesn't want to have to deal with foreigners overstaying or misusing their immigration status. Most of the laws and regs concerning foreigners carry the same idea: a foreigner is a temporary resident, not a permanent resident. In this regard one will find a lot of regs about Izin Tinggal Terbatas (temporary residency) but very few about Izin Tinggal Tetap (Permanent residency) which was traditionally more a transitory status toward citizenship. In harsh words, the Indonesia doesn't welcome foreigners who are rooting in the country, taking long term employment, marrying...etc. It starts to change but it is very slow and there is still a large fraction of the population which is unconsciously reluctant to it.
A new immigration law was due to be enacted in 2010. Not surprisingly, the DPR won't be able to vote it before the end of the year... but may be able to do so in 2011. This law is much more elaborated than the existing one with, for examples penal and civil sanctions for sponsors messing with their duties (and also greater sanctions for foreigners ignoring immigration stipulations). Therefore, as soon as it is enacted you can be sure to see even more regulations being issued and more control done concerning the respect of those regs.

[mattyboy43]

Atlantis, does this mean those of us that are with our companies long term, even on year to year contracts are supposed to get a ticket home at the end of each year or just when we leave the current employer?

[atlantis]

It is mainly a question of interpretation but I would answer with a "no".
The article 48 of the Undang-Undang nomor 13 tahun 2003 tentang ketenagakerjaan stipulates that the employer is under the obligation to repatriate the foreign worker when the working relationship comes to an end. It means that if the contract is reconducted, then they can argue that the working relation is not over but extended, which is not wrong. The contract is, but the working relationship isn't.

Pasal 48, UU 13/2003: "Pemberi kerja yang mempekerjakan tenaga kerja asing wajib memulangkan tenaga kerja asing ke negara asalnya setelah hubungan kerjanya berakhir"

Interestingly, the law doesn't limit the number of time a contract can be renewed, which is somewhat abnormal for a foreigner. In fact a working permit is issued with a certain number of conditions. one of the conditions, set by a the article 45 of the Manpower Act, is that the employer should appoint Indonesian worker as associate for the foreign worker whereby the foreign worker should transfer technologies and expertise to his/her Indonesian associate. The employer should also educate and train the Indonesian worker associated until he/she has the qualifications required to occupy the position currently occupied by foreign worker. These provisions are not valid for directors and comissioners but should be valid for english teachers for example. It is however understood that Indonesian worker who accompany foreign worker do not automatically replace or occupy the position of the foreign worker that they accompany. The accompaniment is emphasized on transfer of technology and transfer of expertise/ skills so that the accompanying Indonesian workers may get ability to replace the foreign worker that they accompany in due time. No more precision or limit in time, which explain that in some case (ex: english teacher) contracts and working permits can be renewed over the years for the same person.

Pasal 45, UU 13/2003
"1. Pemberi tenaga kerja asing wajib :
a. Menunjuk tenaga kerja warga negara Indonesia sebagai tenaga pendamping tenaga kerja asing yang dipekerjakan untuk alih teknologi dan alih keahlian dari tenaga kerja asing ; dan
b. Melaksanakan pendidikan dan pelatihan kerja bagi tenaga kerja Indonesia sebagaimana dimaksud pada huruf (a) yang sesuai dengan kualifikasi jabatan yang diduduki oleh tenaga kerja asing.
2. Ketentuan sebagaimana dimaksud pada ayat (1) tidak berlaku bagi tenaga kerja asing yang menduduki jabatan direksi dan/atau komisaris."