The BSU in 2022 is given by the government regardless of the levels of the workers.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Manpower Minister Ida Fauziyah symbolically handed over wage subsidy assistance (BSU) to health workers in Semarang city, Central Java province, on Friday to help maintain people’s purchasing power amid rising fuel prices.

"The BSU in 2022 is given by the government regardless of the levels of the workers," she said in a statement received here on Friday.

After handing over the BSU to medical officers at St. Elizabeth Hospital, Semarang city, on Thursday (September 22, 2022), she said that the distribution of the aid reflects the government’s attention to mitigating the impact of the fuel price hike, which has hit all sectors across Indonesia.

The wage subsidy is also meant to signify the government’s appreciation of hospitals that have registered their employees for the social insurance program of the Workers Social Security Agency (BPJS Ketenagakerjaan).

The minister then invited other institutions to provide social protection to their workers.

At the event on Thursday, she symbolically handed over assistance to 13 representatives of a total of 781 health workers at the hospital.

Assistance of Rp600 thousand was provided for each beneficiary, which was to be transferred directly to their bank account.

The aid was provided from the state budget (APBN), not from the participants’ insurance managed by the BPJS Ketenagakerjaan.

Hence, the distribution of the BSU did not reduce workers’ funds in the social insurance program, Fauziyah added.

According to BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, 16,198,731 workers are eligible for the wage subsidy.

To become eligible for the assistance, workers must be Indonesian nationals, have a personal identity number (NIK), have an active status on BPJS Ketenagakerjaan, as well as earn up to Rp3.5 million in monthly wages, or equal to the minimum wage in their respective regions.

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Translator: Prisca Violleta, Uyu Liman
Editor: Suharto
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