Safrin La Batu, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court has ruled on Thursday that a provision in the 2003 Labor Law allowing a company to ban marriages between its employees violated the 1945 Constitution.
The court argued that marriage between coworkers did not affect the rights of other people, nor would such a union undermine their productivity. "The court declares the petitioners' arguments legally valid," justice Aswanto said.
The petition for judicial review was filed by members of state electricity company PT PLN's labor union. They challenged Article 153 of the Manpower Law that permitted companies to lay off a worker for marrying a colleague.
Most companies prohibit employees from marrying their colleagues, and require one employee of the couple to resign if they intended to proceed with the marriage.
One of the plaintiffs, Jhoni Boetja, argued that marriage was a religious institution and the bond between a man and woman who loved each other could not be denied.
"This regulation can be abused by parties that want to terminate workers," he said. (ahw)