INDONESIA: Draft regulation could result in a significant drop in severance pay

The Indonesian government is set to soon issue a regulation — possibly even by next week — that would cover the use of short-term labor contracts and may, based on the drafts available so far, result in significant reductions in the amount of separation pay for workers when a company is undergoing financial distress. The draft was first released on 29 January, but Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Thursday that the president may have already signed it or could do so soon. Labor unions could turn out into the streets in protest, as they did during the approval of the Omnibus L