TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Manpower Minister Yassierli ensured that the ministry will utilize the Decent Living Standard (DLS) data provided by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) to calculate the Provincial Minimum Wage (UMP) for 2025. This is in line with the Constitutional Court's ruling, which mandates the inclusion of the survey on the living standard in minimum wage calculations.

“We will reference the existing DLS data from the Central Statistics Agency,” Yassierli said on Friday, November 22, 2024.

The decision to rely on BPS data was made due to time constraints, making it impractical for the Manpower Ministry to conduct a comprehensive DLS survey independently.

“Given the limited timeframe, it's not feasible for us to conduct a comprehensive DLS survey,” he explained.

Yassierli has also urged regional heads responsible for setting UMP or District/City Minimum Wage (UMK) to await further guidance from the central government. He emphasized that ongoing discussions are underway between the government, business associations, and labor unions to establish a new wage calculation formula in light of the Constitutional Court's ruling.

“We must adhere to the Constitutional Court's decision, so we cannot formulate the UMP calculation formula immediately,” he added.

When questioned about specific details, such as index values or alpha factors, Yassierli declined to comment, citing the absence of President Prabowo Subianto. He indicated that the ministry would provide updates and seek presidential approval before conveying the final UMP calculation formula to regional governors.

“We will report to Pak President before disseminating the UMP calculation formula to the governors,” said the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) academic.

Previously, BPS announced that the DLS in 2024 amounted to Rp1.02 million per month or Rp12.34 million per year. This figure represents the average annual per capita expenditure. BPS noted a 3.71% increase in the DLS compared to the previous year's value of Rp11.89 million.

However, economist Nailul Huda from the Center of Economic and Law Studies argues that the DLS calculation is far below the actual household expenditures. For the record, BPS uses per capita expenditure as a measure, while the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) employs Gross National Income per capita.

Riani Sanusi Putri contributed to the writing of this article.

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