https://injurity.pusatpublikasi.id/index.php/inj

LEGISLATION AS AN EFFORT TO OPPOSE THE EXPLOITATION

OF UNDERAGE WORKERS IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF HUMAN

RIGHTS

Sugeng Samiyono

, Faisal Santiago

, Evita Isretno Israhadi

Universitas Borobudur, Indonesia

Email : [email protected]

, faisalsantiag[email protected]

evita_isretno@borobudur.ac.id

Abstract

The current phenomenon is often found in children becoming laborers or workers in home industries. Some of

the dominant factors causing children to become laborers were found in the field, including family,

environmental influences, local potential and recruitment patterns, educational needs and future orientation, and

encouragement from the children themselves. Meanwhile, the reason why employers use children as labor is

caused by several things, among others, because the child comes personally to the entrepreneur, offers labor, to

enter a child laborer generally through informal procedures, the workforce will be easy to manage and obedient

when compared to with adult workers or for reasons of pity/pity rather than being neglected to work on the

streets where the conditions are very dangerous, it is better to be recruited as workers. The philosophy of

prohibiting children from working or employing children as regulated in the Manpower Law is closely related

to efforts to protect children's human rights, which are also guaranteed protection in Law No. 39 of 1999 on

Human Rights. Provisions that prohibit the employment of children as regulated in the provisions of Article 68

of the Manpower Law are in line with the provisions of Article 52 paragraph (1) of Law No.39 of 1999

concerning Human Rights, which stipulates that every child has the right to protection by parents, family,

community and country. Law Number 23 of 2002, Article 1 Paragraph 2 states that child protection is all

activities to guarantee and protect children and their rights so that they can live, grow, develop and participate

optimally by human dignity and protection, receive protection from violence and discrimination.

Keywords

Accident Cases, Restorative Justice, Traffic

INTRODUCTION

Indonesia is the State of Law that is contained in the constitution of the 1945

Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, namely in Article 1 paragraph (3) which reads;

"The State of Indonesia is the State of Law". In our constitution, Article 28B paragraph (2) of

the 1945 Constitution reads: Every child has the right to survival, growth, and development

and the right to protection from violence and discrimination. One of the children's problems

that have received explicit attention is the issue of child labor (Kurniaty, 2010).

The State of Indonesia is a state of law that upholds human dignity and that every

human being, both adults and children, should be protected from attempts to employ them in

jobs that degrade human dignity or exploitative work because it is inhuman (ASHILAH,

2022).

Labor protection efforts that can reach all workers, both adult and child labor, especially

regarding child labor, have recently been highlighted and have become a national and even

international issue that must receive serious attention from the government and the

community because it harms the environment for the next generation (Asrini et al., 2016).

Law Number 23 of 2002, Article 1 Paragraph 2 states:

Injuruty : Interdiciplinary Journal and Humanity

Volume 2, Number 1, January 2023

e-ISSN: 2963-4113 and p-ISSN: 2963-3397

LEGISLATION AS AN EFFORT TO OPPOSE THE EXPLOITATION OF UNDERAGE WORKERS IN

THE PERSPECTIVE OF HUMAN RIGHTS

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"Child protection is all activities to guarantee and protect children and their rights so

that they can live, grow, develop and participate optimally by human dignity, and receive

protection from violence and discrimination"

The main trigger of the number of minors who become workers in the industrial sector

is none other than the motivation or profit-oriented for the owners of capital (NIM, n.d.).

Why not because underage child labor from the perspective of the entrepreneur is very

profitable because the wages are cheap, there are not many demands, and also relatively

obedient in working compared to adult workers (Dirdjosisworo, 2001).

This fact is faced with one of the problems of children that must receive special

attention, namely the issue of child labor (Daniswara et al., 2017). This issue has become

global because many children enter work at school age. The issue of child labor is not just an

issue of children doing work for wages.

However, it is closely related to the exploitation of minors by business actors to be

employed in dangerous places or positions that are completely detrimental to the

development, protection, care, and protection of children (Rahardjo, 1987). All of this has

very serious consequences for the child himself, especially the inhibition of education and

physical, psychological, and social development in children.

Juridically, Indonesia already has a set of laws and regulations to guarantee children's

rights and reduce the impact on working children, namely the 1945 Constitution, Ratification

of the ILO (International Labor Organization) Convention No. 138 in conjunction with Law

No. 20 of 1999 concerning the Minimum Age for Allowed to Work, Ratification of ILO

(International Labor Organization) Convention Number 182 into Law Number 1 of 2000

concerning Violations and Immediate Actions for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of

Child Labor, Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child into Presidential

Decree Number 36 of 1990, Law Number 13 of 2003 concerning Manpower, Law Number

23 of 2002 concerning Child Protection was then updated through Law Number 35 of 2014,

then amended again by Law Number 17 of 2016.

Even though there is a set of regulations that protect child labor, the tendency of the

quality of child labor problems from year to year has grown in complexity towards the worst

forms of exploitative work and endangers the physical, mental, moral, social, and intellectual

growth and development of children. Syamsudin in his book stated:

“In essence, children should not work because their time should be used to study, play,

have fun, be in a peaceful atmosphere, and get opportunities and facilities to achieve their

goals through their physical, psychological, intellectual, and social development. However,

in reality, many children under 18 have been actively involved in economic activities,

becoming child laborers, including in the industrial sector due to economic pressures

experienced by their parents or other factors.”

METHOD RESEARCH

The method used in this research is normative legal research (juridical normative) that

refers to and leads to legal norms and principles and is sourced from the library (library

research) and various laws and regulations relating to the protection of underage workers.

The data obtained in this writing is secondary data. Secondary data is data that the

author obtains from research from the literature and documents that are the result and

processing of other people who are already available in the form of books, papers, and other

documents that are usually provided in libraries or private property. In other words,

researchers need to collect data by visiting libraries, study centers, archive centers, or reading

many books related to their research.

LEGISLATION AS AN EFFORT TO OPPOSE THE EXPLOITATION OF UNDERAGE WORKERS IN

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1. Primary Legal Materials, such as from laws and regulations in particular Law Number

23 of 2002 in conjunction with Law Number 35 of 2014 in conjunction with

Law Number 17 of 2016 concerning Child Protection, Law Number 13 of 2003

concerning Manpower, Law No. Law Number 2 of 2002 concerning the Indonesian

National Police and Law Number 20 of 2008 concerning Micro, Small, and Medium

Enterprises (MSMEs).

2. Secondary Legal Materials, namely Books, Papers, Articles, Internet.

The approaches used in this legal research are:

a. A statutory approach is needed to study further the legal basis by examining laws

and regulations related to legal issues.

b. The conceptual approach is moving from the views and doctrines that develop in

the science of law. Researchers will find ideas that give birth to legal notions,

legal concepts, and legal principles that are relevant to the issues at hand.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

A. Factors Causing Child Labor

The cause of children working in the worst forms of work, because poverty is not fully

proven true (Imron, 2003). Many other driving factors were found to cause children to work,

although these factors are not singular in every child labor, there is certainly one dominant

factor in each individual and child working community in particular sectors and areas.

Some dominant factors causing children to become laborers were found in the field,

including family, environmental influences, local potential and recruitment patterns,

educational needs and future orientation, and encouragement from the children themselves

(Rahmania, 2013). Meanwhile, the reason why employers use children as labor is caused by

several things, among others, because the child comes personally to the entrepreneur, offers

labor, to enter a child laborer generally through informal procedures, the workforce will be

easy to manage and obedient when compared to with adult workers or for reasons of pity/pity

rather than being neglected to work on the streets where the conditions are very dangerous, it

is better to be recruited as workers.

The causes and drivers of child labor problems in Indonesia are the interaction of

various factors at the micro to macro level, from economic, social, and cultural factors to

political issues. The causes and drivers of work problems are as follows:

1. Poverty

The low-family economy is the dominant factor that causes children to be involved

in making a living (Hakim, 2020). Children are often a crucial source of income. In fact

many cases, child labor is seen as a survival mechanism to eliminate the unfulfilled

pressures of poverty from the parents' work (Suyanto, 2019). The involvement of children

in economic activities is also due to the encouragement to help ease the burden on

parents, work for the respect of the community, as well as the desire to enjoy the work

business, which is a motivating factor for child labor. However, the biggest reason that

encourages children to work is the demands of parents to get additional income for the

family. Children often cannot avoid being involved in work.

2. Urbanization

Child labor, which is predominantly from rural areas, is also a factor in the

emergence of child labor. Rural areas are considered unable to guarantee economic

improvement, so many people try their luck in big cities in the hope of earning a higher

income without exception, parents who are shackled by economic problems invite their

children to be employed, from beggars to factory workers.

LEGISLATION AS AN EFFORT TO OPPOSE THE EXPLOITATION OF UNDERAGE WORKERS IN

THE PERSPECTIVE OF HUMAN RIGHTS

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3. Socio-cultural

Culturally, they see children as potential families who are obliged to be devoted to

their parents. Children who work are considered children who are dutiful and can elevate

the dignity of their parents. With a culture like this, the position of neglected children has

rights and must be protected.

4. Education

The primary reason for a child to become a worker is their backwardness to get an

education. One thing the government can do most is to implement low-cost educational

programs and accommodate the specific skill needs of children. It is because children

have been "forced" to work by the economic demands of the family. Child wages are one

of the sources of family income. With cheap education and providing practical skills, they

are expected to no longer think that schools do not provide any benefits and instead make

family conditions worse. Innovation is needed to make education acceptable in areas

where child labor is located. The education applied must not be the same as the education

held in other formal schools, whose parents are considered capable of meeting the daily

needs of the family.

5. Production Process Revolutions

The development of the era which also demands technological sophistication makes

several companies in performing the production process using advanced technological

tools. So, a lot of work that should be done by experts can be completed more quickly

with only a very short time being done by a tool. What is left is menial and odd jobs,

which turns out to be many children who are taken to work, of course with low wages and

minimal job protection guarantees, because they are still considered as children who do

not know anything and are required to always obey the rules made by the company where

they work.

Weak supervision and limited institutions for rehabilitation

The existence of regulations to protect active work and balanced with the

implementation of these rules. So there may be many problems that arise in child labor that

cannot be resolved by law enforcement officials (Suyanto & Hariadi, 2003).

B. Aspects of Legal Protection for Child Labor

According to the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI):

“Protection is a method, process, and act of protecting. Meanwhile, the law is a

regulation made by the government or that applies to everyone in society (the State)."

In the opinion of Soedjono Dirdjosisworo:

"The understanding of the law can be seen from eight meanings, namely law in the

sense of rulers, officers, attitudes or actions, a system of rules, values, legal order, legal

science, and legal discipline."

The law is not merely written legislation and officials are also law enforcers. As is

understood by the general public who do not know what the law is. However, the law

includes things that already live in the community. In addition, the law also has a coercive

power that is recognized and enforced in social life. In essence, there is a relationship

between legal subjects and legal objects that are protected by law and give rise to obligations.

The rights and obligations arising from this legal relationship must be protected by law. So,

community members can feel safe in carrying out their interests. In this case, it shows that

legal protection can be interpreted as a guarantee or a certainty that someone gets what has

become the rights and obligations so that the person concerned feels safe.

In enforcing the law, there are 3 (three) elements that must always be considered,

namely:

LEGISLATION AS AN EFFORT TO OPPOSE THE EXPLOITATION OF UNDERAGE WORKERS IN

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1. Legal certainty (Irechtssicherheit),

2. Benefits (zweckmassigkeit),

3. Justice (gerechtigkeit)

In the opinion of Satjipto Raharjo:

“Legal protection is to protect human rights that have been harmed by others. And that

protection is given to the community. So that they can enjoy all the rights granted by law”.

The principles of legal protection for the Indonesian people are based on Pancasila as

the ideological foundation and the philosophical basis of the State. The principles that

underlie legal protection for the people are based on Pancasila, namely:

1. The principles of legal protection for the people against the form of government action

are based on the concept of recognition and protection of human rights.

2. The principle of the rule of law, the second principle that underlies legal protection for

the people against government actions, is the principle of the rule of law.

Thus, legal protection can be interpreted as all the government's efforts to ensure legal

certainty to protect citizens. So that their rights as a citizen are not violated, and those who

violate them can be subject to sanctions according to applicable regulations.

Based on Article 1 paragraph (1) of Law Number 23 of 2002 in conjunction with Law

Number 35 of 2014 in conjunction with Law Number 17 of 2016 concerning Child

Protection, that:

"Child is someone who is not yet 18 (eighteen) years old, including children who are

still in the womb"

The laws and regulations in Indonesia are indeed not uniform in determining how to be

considered a child. However, each of these differences in understanding depends on the

situation and conditions in a view which can be questioned later. Child labor is a term for

employing young children in the term of child labor can have the connotation of exploiting

children for their labor. With an undersized salary or consideration for their personality

development in a child's safety and health.

According to the opinion of Bagong Suyanto and Sri Sanituti Hariadi:

"The notion of child labor is as children who do routine work for their parents or for

themselves who need a large amount of time to receive rewards or not"

In this case, it can be concluded that children are allowed to work, namely children who

are at least 13 (thirteen) years old to 15 (fifteen) years old. It is only permitted to do light

work as long as it does not interfere with physical, mental, and social development and health

and must have certain conditions by Law Number 13 of 2003 concerning Manpower.

Children are also human and therefore respecting children's rights is the same as

respecting human rights (Ceswara & Wiyatno, 2018). Human rights or more precisely human

rights are rights that are inherent in the nature and existence of humans, natural and natural as

creatures of God Almighty (Siringoringo, 2019). Rights are part of human rights that must be

guaranteed, protected, and fulfilled by parents, family, society, government, and also the

State. Human rights are a set of principles that arise from values that then emerge into the

rules that govern all human behavior in a relationship with fellow human beings. As part of

social life, children are the heart of human rights. Unfortunately, the facts show that children

are part of a vulnerable group to the occurrence of an act of violence. This vulnerability

occurs because the result children are claimed to be weak humans. It is because the age of the

child and the factors of psychological and mental maturity of this child make him often

marginalized in making a policy.

Legal protection for children is all efforts made to create a condition so that children

can carry out their rights and obligations for the development and growth of children

naturally, physically, mentally, and socially.

LEGISLATION AS AN EFFORT TO OPPOSE THE EXPLOITATION OF UNDERAGE WORKERS IN

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In this case, child protection can be divided into 2 (two) parts, namely:

“First, child protection is juridical, which includes protection in the field of public law

and civil law. Second, child protection is non-juridical in nature, which includes protection in

the social, health, and education fields.”

What is meant by child protection itself is all efforts aimed at preventing, rehabilitating,

and empowering children who experience acts of abuse, exploitation, and neglect to ensure

the survival and growth of children naturally, both physically and socially.

Based on Article 2 of Law Number 23 of 2002 in conjunction with Law Number 35 of

2014 in conjunction with Law Number 17 of 2016 concerning Child Protection, that:

“The implementation of child protection is based on Pancasila and is based on the 1945

Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and the principles of the Convention on the Rights

of the Child, including a. non-discrimination; b. the best interests of the child; c. the right to

life, survival and development; and d. respect for children's opinion

Child protection is the embodiment of justice in a society thus child protection must

endeavor in various fields of state and social life. Efforts to conduct guidance, development,

and protection of children need the role of the community. Either through child protection

institutions, religious institutions, non-governmental organizations, community organizations,

social organizations, the business world, mass media, or educational institutions (Oliviawan

& Jumailah, 2021).

CONCLUSION

The occurrence of child labor is influenced by various social factors such as poverty,

urbanization, socio-culture, education, changes in the production process as well as weak

supervision and lack of institutions for rehabilitation. However, in reality, the majority of

children's involvement in work is driven by poverty or economic factors. Protection for

children as workers has been regulated in several formulations of laws and international

conventions that have been ratified by Indonesia. Currently, Indonesia has a policy on the

protection of child labor and their rights. Various efforts have been made to overcome the

problem of child labor, but in general, the government's attempts have not run optimally. The

implementation of laws and regulations has not matched expectations and reality.

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