An Indonesian Manpower Ministry official on Friday said that Indonesia is working towards better oversight in employment after Indonesia appeared in a US Department of Labor report among countries producing goods by means of child labor and/or forced labor. According to the report, Indonesia is producing nickel used in the manufacture of Electric Vehicles(EV) by forced labor.

While speaking to Reuters, Director of Labor Inspection Yuli Adiratna noted that the Manpower Ministry would use the report by the US Department of Labor to facilitate the oversight of regulations and international standards in the commodities sector. Some of the indicators of forced labor put forward by the report include forced recruitment, physical or sexual violence, withholding of wages, demanding working hours, and abuse of vulnerability.

Production of commodities by forced labor contravenes both the domestic laws of Indonesia and international laws.

The Manpower Act of Indonesia stipulates 40 hours per week as the total time an employee should work. It also states that every worker is entitled to a proper wage that is adequate to cover their needs as human beings. The government of Indonesia has also set up policies that stipulate minimum wages, overtime wages and forms and systems of wage payments, among other measures. Moreover, the act requires the formation of a work agreement in order to protect workers from abuse and unfair treatment by employers. Such an agreement would contain details such as the names of the employer and employee, the occupation of the worker, and the terms of employment.

Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides for the protection of the right to favorable work conditions and equal pay for equal work. In addition to that, the Forced Labor Convention of 1930 and its 2014 protocol, which Indonesia has ratified, mandate nations to suppress all forms of forced labor.