ER
ENTERPRISES in Indonesia should not neglect paying the Idul Fitri holiday bonus (THR) to their employees on the pretext of the ongoing pandemic of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
According to legal expert at the University of Nusa Cendana, Bernard L. Tanya said no company in Indonesia should use the present situation as a pretext to wiggle out of their obligation. Every company’s capability to pay THR allowance amid this COVID-19 crisis might differ.
“An enterprise unable to meet its obligation should substantiate it in accordance with the workforce authority’s mechanism, he expounded. The need for a consensus between the company and its workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Certain business sectors in Indonesia have borne a major brunt from the ongoing coronavirus outbreak,” Tanya said.
Meanwhile Putu Astawa, head of the Bali Provincial Government’s Tourism Office I, noted the tourism industry in the Indonesian resort island of Bali, for instance, has been impacted majorly, with domestic and foreign tourist arrivals nosediving over the past few months.
“Bali’s tourism industry has suffered a huge blow, not just on account of the global pandemic but also the travel restrictions currently imposed in Indonesia. As a result of a decline in the number of visitors, the occupancy rates at several hotels in the resort island have dipped,” Putu Astawa stated.
Currently, Bali receives some 500 tourists per day, whereas normally, the number of foreign tourist arrivals was pegged at between 10,500 and 11,000 daily, with most of the travelers being Australians, Astawa pointed out.
Astawa stated that the dip in the number of visitors had reduced job opportunities for tourist guides in the resort island. Astawa expressed hope that the gloomy situation would end in May.
The novel coronavirus disease, which first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019, has infected over one million people worldwide and also affected the tourism industry in the South Sumatra city of Palembang.
Several hoteliers in the city have contemplated on shutting down their businesses temporarily on account of the poor occupancy rates over the past three months in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. [antaranews/photo special]
