Hiring a Foreigner in Indonesia: Open Roles and Employer Duties
Hiring a foreigner in Indonesia: which roles are open, the one family of roles that is closed, and what your company commits to.
References (9)
- The Manpower Law, UU No. 13 Tahun 2003 as amended by UU No. 6 Tahun 2023, Articles 42, 45 and 47. Article 42 is read with Constitutional Court Decision 168/PUU-XXI/2023 of 31 October 2024.
- Government Regulation PP No. 34 Tahun 2021 on the use of foreign workers. Articles 2, 3, 5 to 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 25 and 32 set who may employ, which roles, the RPTKA and the employer's commitments.
- Permenaker No. 8 Tahun 2021 carries out PP 34/2021. Article 4 sets the education and experience a foreign worker needs. Articles 35 and 36 set the compensation fund and when it is paid.
- PP No. 41 Tahun 2023 on non-tax revenue at the Ministry of Manpower sets the compensation fund at US$100 per position per person per month, in item I of its annex.
- Kepmenaker No. 228 Tahun 2019 lists the positions foreign workers may hold, in Diktum KESATU to KETIGA. Kepmenaker No. 349 Tahun 2019 lists the personnel positions closed to them.
- UU No. 24 Tahun 2011 on the social security bodies, Article 14, brings a foreigner working in Indonesia for six months or more into social security.
- Permenaker No. 4 Tahun 2022, Article 12, pays old-age savings to a foreign participant leaving Indonesia for good.
- The Income Tax Law, UU No. 36 Tahun 2008, Article 2(3)(a), sets the three tests of tax residence.
- Older rules now revoked. Perpres No. 20 Tahun 2018 was revoked by PP 34/2021, Article 46. Permenaker No. 10 Tahun 2018 was revoked by Permenaker 8/2021, Article 59(a). PP No. 42 Tahun 2018 was revoked by PP 41/2023, which kept the US$100 fund.
Hiring a foreigner in Indonesia is open to most companies and to most roles. A PT (Perseroan Terbatas, a limited company), including a foreign-owned PT PMA (Penanaman Modal Asing), can employ a foreign worker in almost any management, professional or technical position. One family of roles is closed to foreigners: HR and personnel. The duties that come with any hire, foreign or Indonesian, are summarised in our guide to taking on staff.
The company also takes on six commitments with the hire, covering training, an ongoing cost and the return home. None of them is hard to keep, and each is set out below.
The permission itself is the RPTKA (Rencana Penggunaan Tenaga Kerja Asing), the approval of your plan to employ a foreign worker. We take care of it, and our work permit KITAS service explains how it leads to the work visa and the stay permit (KITAS, Kartu Izin Tinggal Terbatas).
Can your company hire a foreigner?
Most employers can. A PT or a yayasan (foundation) established under Indonesian law may employ a foreign worker, and so may a foreign company’s representative office and a foreign company doing business in Indonesia (PP 34/2021, Article 3(1)). The one company form that may not is the PT Perorangan, the one-person company (Article 3(2)).
An individual may never employ a foreign worker, and that rule has no exception (Manpower Law, UU 13/2003, Article 42(2), as amended by UU 6/2023; PP 34/2021, Article 9).
The role itself has to meet three conditions. It is a specific position, held for a fixed term, by somebody with the competence for it (Manpower Law, Article 42(4), read with Constitutional Court Decision 168/PUU-XXI/2023). Employers give Indonesian workers priority, so a foreigner fills a role an Indonesian cannot yet fill (PP 34/2021, Article 2(1)–(2)). The RPTKA application is where the company gives its reason for the hire (Article 12(2)).
The law as at 28 September 2026
This article states the rules in force on that date: the Manpower Law, UU 13/2003 as amended by UU 6/2023, and the two regulations that carry it out, PP 34/2021 and Permenaker 8/2021. A new manpower law is before the DPR (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, the House of Representatives) and may restate them. We will update this page when it passes.
Which roles are open to a foreigner
Most of them. Management, professional and technical roles make up most of the Ministry of Manpower’s list of positions a foreign worker may hold (Kepmenaker 228/2019, Diktum KESATU). A seat as director or commissioner is open too, provided it carries no personnel duties (Diktum KEDUA).
The closed family is HR. Foreign workers may not hold positions that deal with personnel (Manpower Law, Article 42(5); PP 34/2021, Article 11(1)). The Minister’s list of those positions runs from personnel director to job interviewer, and includes one role people do not expect: an occupational safety officer for employees (PP 34/2021, Article 11(2)).
Two smaller rules sit alongside. One foreign worker holds one position in a company, not two at once (PP 34/2021, Article 10). And the person needs education that matches the role, with competence or at least five years’ experience in it (Permenaker 8/2021, Article 4). Our note on why a KITAS application is refused covers that requirement.
A role not on the list can still be approved
The list of open positions is a guide rather than a wall. Where the role you need is not on it, the Minister can still approve it (Kepmenaker 228/2019, Diktum KETIGA). We check the role for you before any offer goes out.
What hiring a foreigner in Indonesia commits you to
Six commitments come with a foreign hire, and the first is written into the RPTKA application itself, which names the Indonesian companion (PP 34/2021, Article 12(2)).
An Indonesian companion
An Indonesian employee works alongside the foreign hire to take on their skills, and the company trains them to the level of the role (Manpower Law, Article 45(1)(a)–(b); PP 34/2021, Article 7(1)(a)–(b)).
Indonesian lessons
The company arranges Indonesian-language training for the foreign hire, in-house or with a language institution (PP 34/2021, Articles 7(2) and 30).
The compensation fund
The company pays US$100 a month for each foreign worker, in advance for the term of the approval (Permenaker 8/2021, Articles 35(1) and 36(1); PP 41/2023). Its Indonesian name is DKPTKA, Dana Kompensasi Penggunaan Tenaga Kerja Asing.
Social security
BPJS (Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial, the state social security bodies) for anyone employed over six months. Below that, private insurance covering at least work accidents (PP 34/2021, Article 8).
A yearly report
Once a year, on the foreign workers, the companion’s training and the transfer of skills. A report also follows when a contract ends or is ended early (PP 34/2021, Article 32). We file the yearly report for you.
The trip home
When the contract ends, the company arranges the foreign worker’s return to their home country (Manpower Law, Article 45(1)(c); PP 34/2021, Article 7(1)(c)).
Directors, commissioners, the head of a representative office, a foundation’s officers and anyone hired for temporary work are spared the companion, the training and the language lessons. The trip home still applies to them (PP 34/2021, Article 7(3)). Our note on foreign directors covers the board.
These commitments come round again when the approval is renewed, because the renewal file shows the BPJS membership and the report on training the companion (PP 34/2021, Article 21(4)). We track each renewal and start it before it becomes urgent.
Payroll, social security and tax
A foreign employee working in Indonesia for six months or more is a BPJS participant like anybody else (UU 24/2011, Article 14), and the contributions go through the monthly payroll. Their old-age savings (JHT, Jaminan Hari Tua) are not lost when they leave: they can be paid out before or after the employee leaves Indonesia for good (Permenaker 4/2022, Article 12). Our guide to BPJS contributions sets out the position scheme by scheme.
A foreign employee who lives here usually becomes an Indonesian tax resident. The Income Tax Law gives three alternative tests: living in Indonesia, being here more than 183 days in any 12 months, or being here in a tax year with the intention of living here (UU 36/2008, Article 2(3)(a)). Their salary then goes through payroll like anyone else’s, and our personal tax service looks after their own position.
What older guides still say
Questions people ask
Does a shareholder who is also a director need an RPTKA?
Can a tech start-up bring someone in without an RPTKA?
Can one foreign employee work for two of our companies?
How long does an approval last?
Is any employer spared the compensation fund?
What this means for you
Hiring a foreigner in Indonesia starts with the role. Before you make an offer, confirm that the position is open to a foreign worker and that your company is one that may employ them. After that, the commitments follow the calendar of the approval, and we take care of the approval, the fund payment, the yearly report and each renewal as part of our work permit service.