Regulation Watch · Business Licensing · Indonesia. The law applies nationally to paid domestic work performed for an individual or people in a household. It therefore affects foreign residents and expatriates, foreign directors, shareholders, property owners and tenants when they personally employ household staff, as well as domestic workers and licensed domestic-worker placement companies. Staff employed by a hotel, villa-rental business, company or other institution remain subject to the applicable employment framework rather than automatically becoming domestic workers under this law.
Indonesia Sets Domestic-Worker Employment Standards
Law 2/2026 requires household employers to agree work terms, pay wages and monetary religious-holiday allowance, provide rest, leave, safe conditions and social security, and report domestic workers to the neighbourhood authority; placement companies must align their licensing by 30 April 2027.
- Published
- Enacted and promulgated in Jakarta on 30 April 2026 in State Gazette 2026 No. 47, Supplement No. 7174. It was first recorded by Regulation Watch on 10 October 2026 as a late-discovered instrument.
- Effective
- 30 April 2026, the date of promulgation specified by Article 48.
- Added to Watch
- 10 October 2026
Who is affected
Indonesian and foreign householders who personally employ cooks, cleaners, gardeners, child carers, carers for sick, elderly or disabled people, drivers, security staff, pet carers or other agreed household workers; foreign directors, shareholders, expatriates, property owners and tenants in that capacity; domestic workers; domestic-worker placement companies, including eligible PT PMA or PT PMDN entities; neighbourhood RT/RW authorities; and household, human-resources, payroll, immigration, legal and compliance advisers. Hotels, managed villas and other businesses should classify arrangements carefully because an entity-employed worker serving a commercial operation is not automatically within the household-employer model.
Practical impact
A household may recruit directly or through a licensed domestic-worker placement company. Direct engagement is based on an agreement, while agency placement requires a written Indonesian-language employment agreement covering the parties, workplace, term, work, rights, conditions, wage and payment method. Employers must pay the agreed wage and monetary religious-holiday allowance, provide humane work time, rest, agreed leave, a safe and healthy environment, food and suitable accommodation for live-in workers, permit worship, arrange employment social security and address health coverage where the worker is not government-subsidised. The worker's presence must be reported to the local RT/RW. Placement companies need an OSS-issued NIB and Standard Certificate and may not charge workers, deduct wages, retain original documents or place them with a business or institution.
Law 2/2026 on the Protection of Domestic Workers was enacted and promulgated on 30 April 2026 in State Gazette 2026 No. 47, Supplement No. 7174, and took effect that day. It creates a national baseline for paid work performed for an individual or people in a household and covers household workers recruited directly or through a placement company.
The definition turns on household employment, not the worker's job title. Covered work may include cooking, cleaning, gardening, child care, care for sick, elderly or disabled people, driving, household security, pet care and other agreed household work. Foreign residents, expatriates, directors, investors, owners and tenants are therefore covered when they personally engage staff for their household. A worker engaged by a hotel, managed villa, company or institution for commercial operations requires separate classification under the general employment and licensing framework.
A candidate domestic worker must be at least 18, hold an electronic identity card and have a health certificate. A household may recruit directly under an agreement, which the law does not require to be written, or through a placement company. Written terms remain prudent for direct recruitment because the employer must prove the agreed work, wage, leave and protections if a dispute arises.
Agency placement requires a written Indonesian-language employment agreement stating the parties, workplace, execution date and term, work scope, rights and duties, work conditions, wage and payment method, and signatures. It is made in two stamped originals, with copies for the placement company and RT/RW. The placement company must also use the prescribed recruitment and placement agreements and provide pre-placement orientation and its promised replacement protection.
Employers must pay the agreed wage and a monetary religious-holiday allowance, provide humane work time, rest and agreed leave, maintain a safe and healthy working environment, supply food and suitable accommodation for a live-in worker, permit worship, honour the agreement and report the worker's presence to the RT/RW. The parties should translate those statutory principles into clear hours, duties, rest days, privacy, accommodation, travel and termination terms.
Social-security duties are explicit. If a worker is not a recipient of government health-insurance contribution assistance, the employer pays health coverage under the agreement or contract and the arrangement is made known to RT/RW. Employment social security is also employer-funded under the agreement; the official explanation identifies at least work-accident and death coverage. Employers should retain registration and contribution evidence rather than relying on an informal cash substitute.
A domestic-worker placement company must be a licensed legal entity with an OSS-issued NIB and Standard Certificate. It may not charge the worker or deduct wages, retain original personal documents, block communication, coerce work beyond the agreed term or place a domestic worker with a business or institution. Breaches can lead to warnings, activity restrictions, suspension, temporary or complete stoppage and licence revocation.
Existing placement institutions have until 30 April 2027 to align with the law, and the government must issue implementing regulations within the same one-year period. Household-employer duties already apply. A worker wishing to resign must give at least one month's notice, but this should not be used to restrict statutory rights or justify retention of identity documents.
Late discovery: the law took effect in April 2026 but was not previously present in the Regulation Watch ledger. The official State Secretariat signed text and metadata, supported by the Ministry of Manpower and DPR legal indexes, now provide the primary-source basis for publication without changing the law's true legal dates.
Required action
- Map every household-staff arrangement and distinguish personal household employment from employment by a villa, hotel, property-management company or other commercial entity; apply the correct labour framework to each worker.
- For a new domestic worker, verify that the candidate is at least 18, holds an electronic identity card and has the required health certificate before recruitment or placement.
- Document the work agreement, scope, workplace, start and end dates or term, hours, rest, leave, wage and payment method, monetary religious-holiday allowance, food, live-in accommodation where applicable, safety, worship and termination arrangements.
- For an agency placement, execute the prescribed written Indonesian-language agreement in two stamped originals, and ensure the placement company and local RT/RW receive the required copies.
- Report the worker's presence to the local RT/RW and retain evidence of the report with the agreement, identity checks, wage and allowance records, leave records and social-security evidence.
- Check the worker's health-insurance subsidy status; where the worker is not a government contribution-assistance recipient, agree and document the employer-funded health coverage and make it known to RT/RW.
- Register and pay for employment social security as agreed, with coverage including at least work-accident and death benefits, and reconcile any additional BPJS requirements applicable to the arrangement.
- When using a placement company, verify its OSS NIB and Standard Certificate, prohibit worker fees, wage deductions and document retention, and require recruitment, orientation, reporting and replacement obligations in the service contract.
- Domestic-worker placement businesses operating before the law should complete corporate, OSS, operational and contract remediation no later than 30 April 2027.