Palu – The Labor Affairs Agency has criticized local companies of being reluctant to register their employees as members of Jamsostek, the national social and work insurance program.

In its release, the agency revealed that only 409 out of the 1,049 companies in the province had registered their workers with Jamsostek.

It was reported that many companies had not registered with Jamsostek because they employed only contractual workers. Many of them said they were unable to pay the premium.

The labor law stipulates that a company that employs more than 10 workers is obliged to register their workers with Jamsostek. Violations are liable to sentences of six months' imprisonment or Rp 50 million (US$5,850) in fines.

PT Jamsostek said 851 companies from the province had registered with them, including 21,000 workers. It also said the company covered 8 million of the 100 million informal workers nationwide.