Jakarta. Governor Anies Baswedan has stipulated the monthly minimum wage in Jakarta at Rp 4.64 million ($326) for next year, an increase of 5.1 percent on the current wage. 

The new ruling comes into effect immediately from January 1.

"Employers must not pay their workers at the amount lower than the provincial minimum wage,” the new governor ruling reads.

The minimum wage applies to workers who have spent at least one year with the same company.

Anies has previously agreed on a 0.85 percent rise of the capital city’s minimum wage before he changed his mind amid pressures from labor unions.

Jakarta Manpower Department Head Andri Yansah said the new ruling is final and binding and that there will be no further amendment.

However, he indicated that there is still room for negotiation for businesses still suffering from the devastating impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pandemic-affected employers can negotiate the matter with the wage arbiters, he said.

The Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry has accused the city government of unilaterally determining the minimum wage and repealing the previous rise agreed by employers and the governor.

“According to statistics, the Jakarta minimum wage has increased by 63.5 percent from Rp 2.7 million in 2015 to Rp 4.4 million in 2021. Another rise only adds burden to employers who are still struggling to recover from the impacts of the pandemic,” Diana Dewi, the chamber’s chairwoman, said last week.

Her remarks came a day after Anies announced that the city government would amend the previous decision and slap a 5.1 percent increase on the minimum wage.