NON-LITIGATION SETTLEMENT OF LABOR DISPUTES DUE TO LAYOFFS RESULTING IN TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) had become a global health problem by the first quarter of 2020, and it was later designated as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. This pandemic has left almost no country unaffected, including Indonesia. It has also caused disturbances in the economic, social, and even legal sector. Mobility restrictions were put in place by the central and regional governments through various regulatory instructions, causing several activities, especially in the economic sector to not function properly, such as by implementing work from home policy, which ultimately forced several companies to stop operating completely and even lay off employees. In some instances, this layoff further resulted in termination of employment. Settlement of employment terminations has led to further polemics caused by different perceptions among the parties involved, in this case the company and workers, resulting in a dispute. This research is novel in nature and is in accordance with the expertise of the researchers, with the issues to be analyzed including protection for workers affected by layoffs resulting in termination of employment as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as solutions to labor dispute settlement that can provide justice and legal certainty for the parties involved, due to termination of employment during the Covid-19 pandemic. This article employs a normative juridical approach in its research, as well as a statutory approach and a conceptual approach. Workers experiencing termination of employment which has been carried out unilaterally by companies that suffer losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic need to have their rights protected, and a solution that resolves labor disputes related to layoffs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic that can benefit and provide a sense of justice for all parties is needed, such as settlement of labor disputes through bipartite negotiations that can be utilized as an alternative by the disputing parties.