Chairperson of the Forum for Pensioners of Bank Negara Indonesia (FPP BNI) Martinus Nuroso reading the petition revisions at the judicial review hearing of Manpower Law, Monday (7/1) in the Plenary Courtroom of the Constitutional Court. Photo by Humas MK/Ifa.

Chairperson of the Forum for Pensioners of Bank Negara Indonesia (FPP BNI) Martinus Nuroso revised the petition of Law No. 13/2003 on Manpower. The revision hearing of case No. 100/PUU-XVI/2018 took place on Monday (7/1).

He revised the argument of the petition that it was not nebis in idem with the previous petition. He also added Article 28H Paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution, which reads, “Each person has the right to facilities and special treatment to get the same opportunities and advantages in order to reach equality and justice,” as reference.

“Your Honors’ advice to explore the material that we submitted; we have tried exploring it further,” he explained through video conference.

Martinus, representing FPP BNI, requested a review of Article 167 paragraph (3) of the Manpower Law that reads, "If the employer has included the worker/laborer whose contributions/premiums paid by the employer and the worker/laborer, then that which is calculated with the severance pay shall be the pension whose contributions/premiums have been paid by the employer."

Through his petition, the Petitioner revealed various efforts he had made along with FPP BNI to obtain underpaid severance pay. The applicant claimed that BNI Management, through its internal regulations, had unilaterally interpreted Article 167 paragraph (3) of the Manpower Law by not considering the elucidation to the article. The elucidation to Article 167 paragraph (3) explicitly explained the calculation example of the pay that should have been received by the Petitioner as a BNI pensioner. Therefore, the right of the Petitioner to obtain severance pay in the appropriate amount is not fulfilled. Therefore also, the Petitioner had suffered material losses. The inconsistency between the article and the elucidation to it encouraged the Petitioner to file a petition to review the provision.

In his petition, the Petitioner also stressed that the article he requested for review was an issue for all workers, who are subject to the Manpower Law. The Petitioner theorized, with the interpretation of the article by the Constitutional Court, BNI\'s internal regulations regarding the calculation of severance pay would be null and void so it would no longer harm him. Therefore, the Petitioner requested that the Constitutional Court provide a constitutional interpretation of Article 137 paragraph (3) of the Manpower Law. (Arif Satriantoro/LA/Yuniar Widiastuti)