Indonesia: New Formal Legal Protection for Domestic Workers
On 30 April 2026, Indonesia enacted and promulgated Law No. 2 of 2026 on the Protection of Domestic Workers (“Law 2/2026”), which become effective on the same date. Law 2/2026 marks an important development in Indonesia’s manpower framework, as it elevates domestic worker protection from the previously limited regulatory framework under Minister of Manpower Regulation No. 2 of 2015 on the Protection of Domestic Workers (“MoM Reg. 2/2015”) into a dedicated formal regulatory product. This provides clearer legal recognition for domestic workers, whose status, rights, and working arrangements had long remained insufficiently regulated, except for household work carried out based on custom, family relations, education, or religious purposes.
Law 2/2026 is intended to strengthen protection against discrimination, exploitation, violence, and harassment, while promoting fairer and more structured working relationships in the household employment context.
The key provisions introduced under Law 2/2026 include:
1) Protection Principles: The law moves domestic worker protection from a basic administrative framework into a more rights-based statutory framework. Its principles, including familial values, protection, respect for human rights, justice, welfare, and legal certainty, are important as they set the tone for how domestic work should be treated in practice, not merely as informal household assistance, but as work that requires clearer recognition, safeguards, and accountability (Articles 2 and 3 of Law 2/2026).
2) Domestic Worker Requirements: The law introduces a more protective baseline requirement for domestic workers, under which domestic workers must be at least 18 years old, possess an electronic identity card (e-ktp), and hold a health statement issued by a healthcare facility (i.e., BPJS) (Article 5 of Law 2/2026). This updates the previous framework under MoM Reg. 2/2015, where the eligibility requirements for domestic workers were limited to possession of identity documents, a minimum age of 18 years, and spousal approval for married domestic workers (Article 4 of MoM Reg. 2/2015).
3) Recruitment: Law 2/2026 broadly maintains the approach under MoM Reg. 2/2015 by recognising two recruitment methods, namely: (i) direct recruitment between the employer and the domestic worker; and (ii) indirect recruitment through a domestic worker placement company (Perusahaan Penempatan Pekerja Rumah Tangga or “P3RT”) (Article 4 of Law 2/2026).
For direct recruitment, the employer shall carry out recruitment based on an agreement between the parties. For indirect recruitment, the recruitment must be carried out through a P3RT and may be conducted offline or online, and the arrangement must be set out in a placement cooperation agreement between the P3RT and the employer, as well as a placement agreement between the P3RT and the prospective domestic worker. Law 2/2026 also requires the employment agreement to contain more detailed minimum terms, among others, the identity of the parties, work address, commencement date and term, scope of domestic work, rights and obligations, working conditions, and wage amount and payment mechanism. Where the employment agreement between the employer and the domestic worker involves a P3RT, it must be made in two stamped copies, with copies provided to the P3RT and the neighborhood/community unit (Rukun Tetangga/Rukun Warga or “RT/RW”) (Articles 6, 7, 8, and 11 of Law 2/2026).
4) Scope: The new framework introduces clearer legal boundaries by defining the scope of domestic work, which generally covers household-related work, including cooking, cleaning, caregiving, driving, house guarding, pet care, and other domestic work agreed by the employer and domestic worker (Article 10 of Law 2/2026).
5) Status and Working Arrangement: Before Law 2/2026, domestic work arrangements were often treated in practice as informal household arrangements and were not always documented as formal employment relationships. Law 2/2026 provides clearer recognition of the working relationship between domestic workers and employers, whether based on an agreement or an employment agreement, while also recognizing full-time and part-time domestic workers based on working time. It also requires that employment agreements be made in Indonesian and introduces key employment-related protections, including rest periods, leave, religious holiday allowance, social security, and proper accommodation for full-time domestic workers (Articles 9, 11, 15, and 16 of Law 2/2026).
6) Vocational Training: The law provides a statutory basis for vocational training for prospective and existing domestic workers. Such training is aimed at skilling, reskilling, and/or upskilling domestic workers, and were arranged and/or financed by a P3RT or an employer, the costs must not be imposed on prospective domestic workers or domestic workers (Articles 23 and 24 of Law 2/2026).
7) P3RT: Law 2/2026 strengthens the regulation of P3RTs by requiring them to obtain a business licence from the central government through the integrated electronic business licensing system. The law prohibits P3RTs from, among others, deducting wages or charging fees to prospective domestic workers or domestic workers, retaining original personal documents, restricting communication access, placing domestic workers with non-individual employers, or forcing continued placement after the placement agreement ends. Non-compliance may result in administrative sanctions, including warnings, business activity restrictions or freezing, temporary suspension, and/or licence revocation (Articles 26 and 28 of Law 2/2026).
8) Dispute Settlement: Law 2/2026 introduces a practical dispute settlement mechanism for disputes involving employers, domestic workers, and/or P3RTs, starting with deliberation to reach consensus within seven days from the request for deliberation. If unresolved, disputes may proceed to mediation through the head of the RT/RW or other local designation, or through a mediator at the competent manpower authority, depending on the parties involved. The mediator must resolve the dispute within seven days from receipt of the complaint, and decisions on wage disputes between employers and domestic workers shall be considered as final and binding (Articles 31 and 32 of Law 2/2026).
Key Takeaways
Overall, Law 2/2026 is an important step in bringing domestic work into a formal regulatory framework as opposed to the general manpower law or at most times, unregulated. For many years, domestic work has occupied an uneasy space between private household arrangements and formal employment, leaving domestic workers exposed to uncertainty in relation to their status, rights, and remedies. By introducing clearer rules on recruitment, working arrangements, social protection, placement companies, vocational training, and dispute settlement, Law 2/2026 does more than add another layer of regulation. The ultimate impact of this new Law 2/2026 will depend on enforcement and public understanding, but the law provides a more coherent foundation for treating domestic workers with the legal recognition and dignity long absent from this sector.
