An official from the Bali Provincial government yesterday highlighted how some companies on the island still pay their employees below the minimum wage, after the recent announcement of the new provincial and district minimum wage for 2020.

“Ideally no company should be paying their employees below the minimum wage. But there’s always those who are obstinate enough to keep doing so,” IGA Anom Suradi, who heads the manpower and certification agency for Denpasar city, told Tribun-Bali.

The Bali administration has hiked the provincial minimum wage (UMP) to IDR2.49 million (US$177) per month for 2020, marking an increase of 8.51 percent from this year.

However, different regencies in Indonesia also have their respective minimum wages set, which are locally referred to as UMK. In Bali, for example, Badung regency appears to have the highest minimum wage for Bali with IDR2.93 million, while Denpasar city plans on setting the minimum wage to IDR2.77 million. In general, UMK is always higher than UMP and usually takes precedent in implementation.

Though it should ideally be welcome news for Bali residents, some took to social media to express their skepticism over the actual implementation of the minimum wage raise.

“It depends on the boss,” one user commented.