Jakarta. The Manpower Ministry recently summoned 41 companies in West Java who failed to pay the workers’ social security fees or BPJS Ketenagakerjaan.

Employers in Indonesia have to make monthly contributions to the state insurer BPJS Ketenagakerjaan. These companies will deduct a certain percentage of their employees' salaries every single month for these payments. However, the ministry revealed that many employers had skipped paying these contributions. Other employers also did not register their workers in the system or even report salaries that are lower than what they are being paid.

In March, the government launched a probe into 95 companies that had committed these violations. The Manpower Ministry also penned a written warning to these firms.

“Some companies already paid off the Rp 25 billion (around $1.5 million) in arrears after the written warning. However, that is still far from what these companies should have paid,” Rinaldi Umar, a director at the Manpower Ministry, said Monday.

The ministry later summoned 41 companies for clarification between August 25 and 29. Some of their initials were: TMI2, ET, IEAB, BCP, TJC, JYI (PWBD), SCW, YT, AYJ, NCO, PPA, MK, MRS, MMI, GPGM, KM, DCM, DRB, BI, HPI, MCI, SMS, RSS, CPS, MIR, PS, TMM, BMM, HMI, PT, KYI, MKG, SPB, ITKM, YDK, AMA, EPPI, NAH, OKM, FBI, JIT, TGS, KHI, and TCI. All companies have received letters of reprimand, but are still missing their payments.

“That’s why we are urging companies to seriously comply with their obligations,” Rinaldi said.

The state-run insurer BPJS Ketenagakerjaan has partnered with the Manpower Ministry to implement the so-called Waspadu, a program meant to supervise the social security implementation across companies. BPJS Ketenagakerjaan has implemented the program in 166 companies across 8 provinces, including West Java. The system also supervises foreign workers.

“Every worker has the right to social protection, without exception,” BPJS Ketenagakerjaan’s boss Pramudya Iriawan Buntoro said.