Trade unions welcome Indonesia’s development of mandatory human rights due diligence (HRDD) legislation as an important step forward for workers’ rights, while insisting on genuine union participation in shaping and implementing the new framework.
On 2 February, President Prabowo Subianto approved the drafting of a new Presidential Regulation on business and human rights compliance. The Ministry of Human Rights aims to complete the draft this year, with mandatory enforcement from 2028.
TUAC emphasises that HRDD is a critical tool requiring companies to proactively identify, assess, address and account for human rights risks across their operations – including risks to workers’ rights. The need is acute: the ITUC’s 2025 Global Rights Index gives Indonesia its worst rating of 5, placing it among countries with the most severe violations of labour rights. Workers face widespread violations of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, as TUAC has documented in its assessment of Indonesia’s OECD accession bid. For workers in manufacturing, on plantations and in supply chains – both domestic and those serving multinational enterprises linked to OECD countries – a robust mandatory framework offers a real chance to drive stronger labour protections, tackle supply chain abuses and hold both corporations and the government to account.
“Accession requires adherence to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, including their due diligence requirements. Under these Guidelines and international ILO standards, social partner participation is integral both to developing HRDD legislation and to conducting due diligence at company level – ensuring that workers' voices inform how risks are identified and addressed.”
Yet this standard is far from being met. Indonesian trade unions were not meaningfully consulted during the drafting process – a gap that demands urgent action. Their involvement in HRDD discussions has so far been sporadic and informal, ad hoc rather than embedded in the process as standard practice.
"KSBSI welcomes the development of the mandatory human rights due diligence regulation proposed by the government, as it can become an important tool for trade unions to help ensure that labour rights are effectively implemented for workers in Indonesia. However, trade unions were not meaningfully consulted during the drafting process. Meaningful stakeholder engagement and strong union participation are essential, both in the development of legislation and in the implementation of due diligence processes."
TUAC calls on Indonesia to seize this opportunity to strengthen industrial relations by systematically anchoring social dialogue in policy development and HRDD processes, at both national and company level – securing lasting progress on the rights of working people.
Photo: Icaro Cooke Vieira/CIFOR (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
