THE LEGAL ANALYSIS OF CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DECISION 168/PUU-XXI/2023 SECTORAL MINIMUM WAGES ACCORDANCE TO FAIR WAGES

Abstract

The abolition of the Regency/Municipality Sectoral Minimum Wage (UMSK) under Law Number 6 of 2023 and Government Regulation Number 36 of 2021 created legal uncertainty by eliminating one of the legal instruments protecting workers within Indonesia's wage system. This issue was subsequently subjected to constitutional review, resulting in Constitutional Court Decision Number 168/PUU-XXI/2023, which restored the legal basis for UMSK. This study aims to analyze the Constitutional Court's ratio decidendi in deciding the constitutionality of UMSK regulations, examine the juridical implications of the decision for Indonesia's wage system, and formulate a reconstruction of Article 88C of Law Number 6 of 2023 as ius constituendum. This research employs a normative legal research method using statutory, conceptual, and case approaches. Legal materials were collected through library research and analyzed using a prescriptive method. The findings indicate that the Constitutional Court applied grammatical, systematic, teleological, and historical interpretation to reaffirm the State's obligation to guarantee workers' constitutional right to fair and decent wages through the reinstatement of UMSK. The decision was subsequently implemented through Government Regulation Number 49 of 2025, which regulates sectoral wage determination based on the Indonesian Standard Industrial Classification (KBLI), occupational characteristics and risks, and business scale. Nevertheless, this study finds that Article 88C still requires normative refinement to ensure legal certainty and regulatory harmonization. Accordingly, this research proposes a reconstruction of Article 88C that explicitly recognizes UMSK and its legal criteria, thereby strengthening legal protection for workers while ensuring legal certainty for employers. This reconstruction is expected to serve as a normative foundation for a more equitable, responsive, and sustainable wage policy