ANALISIS PUTUSAN MAHKAMAH AGUNG NOMOR 252 K/PDT.SUS-PHI/2024 TENTANG PENOLAKAN HAK ATAS UPAH PROSES BAGI PEKERJA YANG PKWT-NYA BERUBAH MENJADI PKWTT

Abstract

This study examines Supreme Court Decision Number 252 K/Pdt.Sus-PHI/2024 concerning the denial of a worker's right to process wages, despite the recognition that the worker's status had changed by operation of law from a fixed-term employment contract (PKWT) to an indefinite-term contract (PKWTT) under Article 59 of Law No. 13/2003. The urgency of this research lies in the contradiction between the recognition of indefinite employment status, which should strengthen a worker's normative rights, and the subsequent denial of process wages based on Supreme Court Circular Letter (SEMA) Number 3 of 2018, a policy instrument positioned outside the hierarchy of laws and regulations. This study aims to analyze the basis for the judges' consideration in the decision, the legal consequences arising from it, and available legal protection for affected workers. This normative legal research uses the statute, case, and conceptual approaches, with primary, secondary, and tertiary legal materials collected through library research and analyzed prescriptively through deductive reasoning. The results show that the judges' consideration is consistent in determining the change of employment status, the invalidity of the unilateral termination, and the calculation of severance pay, but deviates on process wages, which is based on SEMA Number 3 of 2018 instead of Article 155 paragraph (2) of Law No. 13/2003 and Constitutional Court Decision Number 37/PUU-IX/2011. This inconsistency reduces the worker's entitlement and contradicts the indefinite status granted in the same decision, revealing that preventive legal protection remains normatively strong while repressive protection through cassation has not been effective.