Precarious Work and Legal Protection: Insights into the Implementation of Labor Standards
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15575/kh.v8i1.54249Keywords:
Precarious Work, Legal Protection, Labor StandardsAbstract
The development of industrial relations in Indonesia demonstrates a structural shift toward the dominance of informal and precarious employment, characterized by fixed-term employment contracts (Perjanjian Kerja Waktu Tertentu/PKWT) and outsourcing arrangements that often weaken legal protection and social security coverage. This study examines the gap between normative labor regulations and the practical implementation of legal protection for precarious workers in Indonesia. Rather than employing an empirical field-based method, the research adopts a qualitative socio-legal doctrinal approach, analyzing primary legal materials, including Law No. 13 of 2003 on Manpower, Law No. 11 of 2020 on Job Creation and its implementing regulations, Constitutional Court decisions, and relevant ministerial regulations as well as secondary legal literature and policy documents. The unit of analysis focuses on the regulation and governance of fixed-term contracts and outsourcing arrangements in the post–Job Creation reform period. The findings reveal three central themes. First, regulatory reforms aimed at increasing labor market flexibility have expanded the scope of fixed-term and outsourced work, thereby intensifying employment insecurity and blurring employment status. Second, although labor standards are formally regulated, substantive protection remains limited due to ambiguities in employment classification and weak enforcement mechanisms. Third, institutional constraints in labor inspection and dispute resolution mechanisms contribute to a predominantly reactive and fragmented enforcement pattern. These dynamics reflect structurally unequal industrial relations, where workers’ bargaining power remains limited and access to effective remedies is uneven. The study concludes that legal protection for precarious workers in Indonesia remains structurally constrained despite formal regulatory guarantees. To enhance effectiveness, the paper recommends strengthening labor inspection institutions, clarifying the legal boundaries of fixed-term and outsourcing arrangements, expanding access to legal aid and collective representation, and rebalancing labor policy to ensure that flexibility does not undermine fundamental labor rights.
References
Ahmad, R., Ifan, F. M., Farridzky, S., Harmono, H., & Gusti, Y. A. (2025). Legal Implementation of the Provisions of Working Hours for Workers Who Receive Wages Under Umk (Case Study of Coffee Shops in Cirebon City). Legal Implementation of the Provisions of Working Hours for Workers Who Receive Wages Under Umk (Case Study of Coffee Shops in Cirebon City), 5(3), 2158-2167.
Baskoro, A. A., Prasetyoputra, P., Katherina, L. K., Prasojo, A. P. S., & Pitaloka, A. A. (2024). Understanding the resilience of garment workers’ families through a mixed-method approach: Surviving the economic hardship during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesia. Social Indicators Research, 175(3), 1099-1130.
Boeri, T., & Cahuc, P. (2023). Labor market insurance policies in the twenty-first century. Annual Review of Economics, 15, 1-22.
Damanik, V. A., Panjaitan, Z. T., Witra, L., Harvis, A. U., Farhan, I., & Herlambang, B. (2024). Perlindungan Hukum Bagi Pekerja Kontrak dan Outsourcing di Indonesia. Jurnal Cendikia ISNU SU, 1(2), 117-123.
Doshi, V., Segarra, P., & Śliwa, M. (2025). Precarious work: A critical review and a proposal for future research. Human Relations, 00187267251394583.
Fairwork Indonesia. (2025). Fairwork Indonesia ratings 2025: Labour standards in the platform economy. Fairwork Project.
Febrianti, L., Sambah, T., & Seruni, P. M. (2023). Komparasi Alih Daya Undang-Undang Ketenagakerjaan dengan Undang-Undang Cipta Kerja Tahun 2023. Jurnal USM Law Review, 6(3), 1193-1209.
Ferrera, M., Corti, F., & Keune, M. (2023). Social citizenship as a marble cake: The changing pattern of right production and the role of the EU. Journal of European Social Policy, 33(5), 493-509.
Harsiwie, I. P., & Ardhana, N. R. (2024). Indonesia Employment In 2023: Labor force conditions and policy developments in the early stages of the demographic bonus. Jurnal Ketenagakerjaan, 19(1).
Hasna, S. (2021). Analisis Terhadap Hak Buruh dan Praktik Outsourcing Sesuai Kebijakan Undang-undang Ketenagakerjaan Nomor 13 Tahun 2003. Journal of Communication Education, 15(2).
Izzati, N. R. (2021). Eksistensi Yuridis Dan Empiris Hubungan Kerja Non-Standar Dalam Hukum Ketenagakerjaan Indonesia. Masalah-Masalah Hukum, 50(3), 290-303.
Japar, M., Fauziah, F., Lubis, E., Fadillah, S., Hermanto, H., & Patras, Y. E. (2025). Analysis of the Protection of Workers' Rights in the Indonesian Labor Law. PALAR (Pakuan Law review), 11(1), 146-161.
Kamal, M. (2020). Workers Protection with a Fixed-Term Employment Contract System based on the Employment Statutory Regulations. Substantive Justice International Journal of Law, 3(2), 180-195.
Keizer, A., Johnson, M., Larsen, T. P., Refslund, B., & Grimshaw, D. (2024). Unions and precarious work: How power resources shape diverse strategies and outcomes. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 30(4), 383-402.
Kunarti, S., Hidayah, N. P., Hariyanto, H., & Ulum, M. B. (2024). The Legal Politics of Outsourcing and Its Implication for the Protection of Workers in Indonesia. Sriwijaya Law Review, 8, 1-19.
Kurniati, Y., & Abdillah, A. (2025). Comparative labor law studies in Indonesia and Malaysia: Social–economic inequality and governance of migrant workers. Laws, 14(6), 79.
Landau, I., Howe, J., Thi Kieu Tran, T., Mahy, P., & Sutherland, C. (2023). Regulatory pluralism and the resolution of collective labour disputes in Southeast Asia. Journal of Industrial Relations, 65(4), 472-496.
McMillan, M., & Zeufack, A. (2022). Labor productivity growth and industrialization in Africa. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 36(1), 3-32.
Mishra, N., Grima, S., & Ozen, E. (2024). Unpacking the black box: Investigating the role of social protection programmes in promoting decent work and economic growth in low‐income countries. Sustainable Development, 32(5), 5825-5835.
Morris, J., Islam, G., & Davies, J. (2025). The search for meaningful work under neo-bureaucracy: Work precarity in freelance TV. Organization, 32(6), 790-815.
Nasution, F. A. P., Trisnantari, S. A., Tobing, H., & Yuliastuti, A. (2024). Transformation of the Labor Inspection System in Indonesia: Towards an Effective Centralized Model. Jurnal Ketenagakerjaan, 19(3).
Novianto, A. (2025). Revisiting employment standards: Informalized formal job and bogus partnership in platform courier work. Critical Sociology, 08969205251377006.
Palmer, W. (2024). Labour market institutions for immigrants: The case of high‐wage migrant workers in Indonesia. Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies, 11(3), e396.
Papadakis, N., Drakaki, M., Saridaki, S., Amanaki, E., & Dimari, G. (2022). Educational capital/level and its association with precarious work and social vulnerability among youth, in EU and Greece. International Journal of Educational Research, 112, 101921.
Purba, M. H. Y., Sirait, N. N., Siregar, M., & Harianto, D. (2025). Unequal regulation in partnerships between MSMEs and large enterprises in Indonesia. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 23(1), 424.
Risfa Izzati, N. (2022). Deregulation in job creation law: The future of Indonesian labor law. Padjadjaran Jurnal Ilmu Hukum (Journal of Law).
Schulte, P. A., Iavicoli, I., Fontana, L., Leka, S., Dollard, M. F., Salmen-Navarro, A., ... & Fischer, F. M. (2022). Occupational safety and health staging framework for decent work. International journal of environmental research and public health, 19(17), 10842.
Schweyher, M. (2023). Precarity, work exploitation and inferior social rights: EU citizenship of Polish labour migrants in Norway. Journal of ethnic and migration studies, 49(5), 1292-1310.
Señoret, A., Ramirez, M. I., & Rehner, J. (2022). Employment and sustainability: The relation between precarious work and spatial inequality in the neoliberal city. World Development, 153, 105840.
Sharma, A. K., & Sharma, R. (2025). The gig economy and the evolving nature of work in India: Employment, policy, and platform realities in the age of convenience. Journal of Digital Economy.
Shin, K. Y., Kalleberg, A. L., & Hewison, K. (2023). Precarious work: A global perspective. Sociology Compass, 17(12), e13136.
Silitonga, R. B. A., Sukamto, H., & Wijayati, A. (2025). Analisis Perlindungan Hukum Terhadap Pekerja Kontrak di Indonesia. Comserva: Jurnal Penelitian Dan Pengabdian Masyarakat, 4(11), 5086-5094.
Solihah, L. I., & Fatriani, F. (2025). Peran Serikat Pekerja Dalam Penegakan Hukum Ketenagakerjaan Di Indonesia. Media Keadilan: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum, 16(1), 45-56.
Sudiarawan, K. A., Dharmawan, N. K. S., Karunian, A. Y., Dananjaya, I. K., & Lokahita, K. I. (2023). The Indonesian Outsourcing Workers' Rights in the Tourism Business Sector: Toward Better Protection?. Lentera Hukum, 10, 365.
Suyoko, M. G., & Az, M. G. (2021). Tinjauan yuridis terhadap sistem alih daya (outsourcing) pada pekerja di Indonesia. Jurnal Cakrawala Hukum, 12(1), 99-109.
Utomo, O. P., & Sugiharti, L. (2022). Characteristics and Determinants of Precarious Employment in Indonesia. Media Trend: Berkala Kajian Ekonomi dan Studi Pembangunan, 17(2), 608-619.
Xue, M., Cao, X., Feng, X., Gu, B., & Zhang, Y. (2022). Is college education less necessary with AI? Evidence from firm-level labor structure changes. Journal of Management Information Systems, 39(3), 865-905.
Yasih, D. W. P. (2023). Normalizing and resisting the new precarity: A case study of the Indonesian gig economy. Critical Sociology, 49(4-5), 847-863.
Yulianti, D., & Fitriansyah, A. (2024). Employment and skill development initiatives in the labor markets: The cases of Indonesia and Thailand. Journal of Policy Studies, 39(1), 41-55.
Zhang, H., Nardon, L., & Sears, G. J. (2022). Migrant workers in precarious employment. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 41(2), 254-272.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Yeti Kurniati, Wiwit Julianasari
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under  Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).