INDONESIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Indra Setiawan, Ridzky Firmansyah Amin, Marintan Panjaitan and Tifanny Natalia, ABNR Counsellors at Law
9.2 Alternative Dispute Resolution The industrial relations dispute settlement mecha - nism mandates that the employer, employee and labour union (if relevant) first try to settle the dispute through bipartite and/or mediation proceedings, both of which are also considered alternative dispute-res - olution avenues, before commencing proceedings in the Industrial Relations Court. Arbitration is another possible alternative method for resolving an industrial relations dispute. However, it is only allowed for: • a dispute regarding the drafting or amendment of the terms and conditions of work (normally in a col - lective labour agreement negotiation); or • a dispute between different labour unions in one company. As a matter of general Indonesian arbitration law, pre- dispute arbitration agreements are enforceable. Nev - ertheless, agreements to arbitrate, post-dispute, are also recognised. 9.3 Costs Attorneys’ fees cannot be awarded to the other party. As stipulated under Indonesian Civil Procedural Law, attorneys’ fees are borne by those who utilise them.
In practice, the implementation of the e-court pro - ceedings at the Industrial Relations Court of Jakarta is still in development and is generally subject to the discretion of the judges handling the respective cases. 9. Dispute Resolution 9.1 Litigation Industrial relations disputes in Indonesia are settled via a three-tier mechanism: • bipartite meeting; • mediation at the local office of the manpower agency or conciliation by a private conciliator; or • court proceedings at an Industrial Relations Court specifically established to hear and examine indus - trial relations disputes. An appeal to the Supreme Court may be filed by any of the parties against a decision of the Industrial Rela - tions Court. The Industrial Relations Court’s decision, which is not appealed, and the Supreme Court’s deci - sion shall be final and binding on the parties. There are no specific rules on class action for an employment dispute, nor has this ever been tested via class action. However, in regular Industrial Rela - tions Court proceedings, there is no limitation on the number of plaintiffs. In practice, it could be hundreds in a mass termination case. Parties to an industrial relations dispute may act on their own behalf, or be represented by attorneys, by a labour union or by an employer’s organisation of which they are a member.
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