LEGAL PROTECTION OF HOUSEHOLD HELPERS IN THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE EMPLOYER

Abstract

Domestic workers (PRT) are workers in the domestic sector who have an important role in supporting household activities, but their position in the Indonesian labor law system remains in an area of ​​normative uncertainty. This study aims to analyze the position of domestic workers in the Indonesian labor law system and the form of legal protection provided to domestic workers in employment relations with employers, along with obstacles in its implementation. The research method used is normative legal research with a statutory, conceptual, and case approach, through a literature study of relevant primary, secondary, and tertiary legal materials. The results of the study indicate that in fact the relationship between domestic workers and employers has fulfilled the elements of an employment relationship in the form of work, wages, and orders. However, legally domestic workers have not been recognized as subjects in the industrial relations regime according to the Manpower Law because households are not categorized as companies. Legal protection for domestic workers currently rests on the Minister of Manpower Regulation Number 2 of 2015, constitutional guarantees of the 1945 Constitution, human rights instruments, and provisions of civil and criminal law. However, the implementation of this legal protection faces various obstacles, including weak regulatory standing, a social paradigm that views domestic work relationships as familial, a low level of legal understanding of domestic workers, and minimal state oversight. This study concludes that a legal vacuum exists that leaves domestic workers outside the formal protection of labor law, making them vulnerable to exploitation and rights violations. Therefore, regulations at the legal level are needed that expressly recognize domestic workers as part of the workforce entitled to fair, humane, and certain legal protection