It seems that the circular issued by the Ministry of Labor on June 14 is causing some confusion. This is because there are regulations similar to but different from those used by the Governor of Jakarta when explaining the shifts that we introduced last time in the Phoenix Labor Consultation Office. The regulations state that ``two shifts must be separated by at least three hours,'' and then the two shifts are listed, but I'm not sure if it has to be the same or if it's an example. Moreover, the working hours for the two shifts are only 8 hours in total, and generally the working time is 9 hours including 1 hour of break time, and 8 hours of actual working time, so I wonder if this is a regulation that requires shorter working hours. However, there is no mention of shortening working hours.

Although it says "mandatory," you may find it incomprehensible that there are no penalties at all. It depends on the nature of the law. Although this legislation has been issued in the form of 'Circular Surat Edaran', it is not legally binding. On the other hand, since it is not legally binding, the approval procedure for issuance is relatively easy and can be issued quickly. This is why there are many circulars in the COVID-19-related regulations to date.

I think it is difficult to understand the concept of ``non-legally binding laws and regulations,'' but Indonesian laws and regulations have an order of priority. The higher the ranking, the stronger the binding force, so even if a lower-ranking law sets different provisions from the higher-ranking law, it will be legally invalid. The highest one is the Constitution Undang-Undang Dasar 1945. This is followed by the Law Undang-Undang, the Decree Peraturan Pemerintah, the Presidential Decree Peraturan Presiden, the Ministerial Decree Peraturan Menteri, and finally the Local Decree Peraturan Daerah. This is legally binding.

So what is a circular? Actually, it is something like a recommendation. If that's the case, is there no need to follow any particular rules? This is a very questionable question. This is because Indonesia still has a strong awareness that government recommendations should be followed. It can be said that there is no need to comply since there are no penalties, but it does not give a good impression from the government. It would be best to follow the instructions as much as possible, but be prepared to explain why the difficult sections are difficult. For example, in the case of this circular, it is possible to split the workday into two shifts and shorten working hours by one hour, but the difference between the two shifts may only be two hours. If you have 3 hours open and 7 hours of actual work time, you will only have 4 hours to work together, and considering that document processing usually takes 3 to 4 hours, it may take two days, so why not arm yourself with the theory that a lot of time will be wasted? A relatively acceptable approach for the Indonesian government is to say that although they understand the regulations and are making efforts, it is difficult for these reasons.

Related legislation: 2020 Corona Committee Circular No. 8