As part of the effort to support unemployed people in the country, Indonesian government is working on the unemployment benefit programme.

The Director General of Training and Productivity Development for the Ministry of Manpower, Bambang Satrio Lelono said that the authority is currently reviewing the unemployment benefit mechanism with the Social Insurance Administration Organisation (BPJS) Employment.

Mr Bambang said on Monday (Feb 12) that while the mechanism is being drafted by BPJS Employment, the organisation will continue to push the initiative because more than 70 countries across the world have already implemented similar unemployment benefit proramme. The figures from Statistics Indonesia revealed that unemployment rate has fallen to 7.03 million in August 2016 due to an increase in the labour force participation, Tribun News reports.

He added that fee or contribution was also among topics being discussed. As for now, there are four types of fees covered by BPJS, including Old Age Security, Work Accident Insurance, Death Insurance, and Pension Assurance. The organisation is reviewing whether there will be additional contribution, or the existing contribution will be divided from four to five allocations.

See: 90-Day Maternity Leave Policy to Cost Firms RM1.5b Annually: MEF

According to him, this matter is quite complex because they will need to revise current regulation if unemployment benefit is counted as a new contribution. Not to mention, there might be rejection from workers if they have to pay additional contribution. While in fact, said Mr Bambang, the one who will receive the benefits is the workers themselves.

The unemployment benefit is aimed for workers affected by company layoffs while participating in vocational training. Mr Bambang said that retrenched workers need re-skilling or up-skilling their skills through vocational training. The unemployment benefit will be given as they do not earn money during the training.

The implementation of vocational training for the workers will be assisted by the government through the Skill Development Fund (SDF) scheme.

Read also: Singaporeans Warned Not to be Misled by SkillsFuture Bogus Claims