Employee benefit discussion in Indonesia

Terminating an employee

An employee must be terminated following carefully the requirements set by the Employment Law. A failure to do so can expose the company to legal liability and therefore the termination should be handled with care and precision.

Terminating a probation contract

The easiest contract to terminate is the probation contract. During the probation contract, the employee can be terminated without any prior notice. However, it’s a common courtesy to give the employee a chance to improve their work before terminating the contract.

Terminating a fixed term contract

If you wish to terminate a fixed-term contract at the expiration of the contract, you can simply notify the employee at least 15 days in advance that their contract will not be renewed. It’s important to not miss that deadline as otherwise the employment contract gets automatically extended.

If you wish to terminate an employment contract prior to the expiration, then you must have at least one of the following reasons:

  • The person cannot do the job, causing loss/damage for the company as stipulated in registered Internal Regulation recognized by the law;
  • The person commits a crime;
  • The person resigns;
  • The company has an organization’s structure change, or force majeure cases or bankruptcy.

Regardless of the reason, you must have documented evidence and give the employee at least 30 days’ notice by issuing the termination decision.

Terminating an infinite contract

Terminating an employee on an infinite contract is similar to a fixed-term contract, except that the notice period must be at least 45 days.

It’s vital that the company has well-written Internal Regulations in place which can be used as a legitimate reason to terminate employees that violate it.