Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar has asked all employers to pay the Idul Fitri bonus on time so that workers can celebrate the upcoming Islamic holiday with relatives in their hometowns.

The minister also instructed the heads of regional administrations to ensure that workers received their pay before the holiday.

According to Ministerial Decree No. 4/1994, paying religious allowances, including the Idul Fitri bonus, is compulsory for all companies, NGOs and foundations. The bonus should have been paid no later than seven days before the grand Islamic event.

The minister said he had already issued a circular asking all governors, regents and mayors to closely monitor the annual bonus' payment in accordance with the decree.

"Regional heads are instructed to assign labor inspectors to supervise the decree's implementation while a number of monitoring posts have been established in industrial areas to accept complaints from workers," he said on Friday, adding that no companies were expected to breach the ministerial decree.

The ministerial decree requires employers to pay a one-month salary in annual bonuses to workers who have worked at least 12 months consecutively and 50 percent of monthly wages to those working at least three months consecutively.

Asked about the urgency of the special bonus' payment, Muhaimin said that millions of low-wage workers in Jakarta and surrounding areas were expected to visit their hometowns in West, Central and East Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi to celebrate Idul Fitri with their families.

"Most workers hope to receive the annual bonus, because of their low monthly wage, to cover their trips home and any postponements will certainly cause public unrest that could disturb political stability in the capital."

He added that the annual exodus was a good tradition that had to be conserved to strengthen brotherhood among Muslims and the religious tolerance among religious communities.

Separately, the ministry's director general of industrial relations and social security affairs, Irianto Simbolon, said that only companies with financial difficulties as shown in their audits were exempted from the obligation.

Last year, as many as 84 small-and medium-scale enterprises requested that they be exempted from the obligation. "Several requests were rejected and the companies were required to pay the special bonus," he said.

Meanwhile, employers said they had no more problems with the annual religion allowance because it had been inserted into their companies' annual labor costs in January.

"The special bonus paid in observance of religious events is normative in its nature because of its possible social and political implications, and so far, no employers have raised objections to paying it," said Indonesian Employers' Association deputy chairman Djimanto.

Djimanto added the special bonus was no longer a major issue as it had been during the past few years.