MILRev: Metro Islamic Law Review
Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025): MILRev: Metro Islamic Law Review

Reconstructing Wage Law in the Contemporary Era: A Pancasila Justice and Maqāṣid al-Sharī‘ah Perspective

Widiatama (Unknown)
I Gusti Ayu Ketut Rachmi Handayani (Unknown)
Lego Karjoko (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
01 Sep 2025

Abstract

The wage system in Indonesia, particularly in East Java Province, reveals a significant gap between normative regulations and practical realities. Current wage practices, which inadequately protect informal workers and casual laborers, highlight weak safeguards for basic economic rights and the lack of distributive justice as mandated by Pancasila and the principles of maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah. This study seeks to reconstruct the legal concept of wages not only in a formal–legal sense but also substantively, by integrating the principles of justice embodied in Pancasila and maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah as ethical and normative frameworks. Employing a juridical–normative and sociological approach, the research involved a review of labour legislation, an analysis of judicial decisions related to wage disputes, and in-depth interviews with workers, labour unions, employers, and officials from the Manpower Office (Disnaker) in three major industrial cities of East Java: Surabaya, Sidoarjo, and Gresik. The main findings indicate that: (1) the wage system in East Java remains dominated by the minimum wage approach, which fails to reflect contextual justice and balanced labour relations; (2) employers often resist implementing wage structures and scales due to weak law enforcement; (3) the values of ḥifẓ al-māl (protection of wealth) and ḥifẓ al-nafs (protection of life) in maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah align with the welfare principles of Pancasila but have yet to be adopted as a legal paradigm in wage policy formulation; and (4) there is an urgent need to reformulate wage law with justice as its foundational principle rather than focusing solely on the technocratic aspects of minimum wage regulation. This study contributes a conceptual model of wage law grounded in the integration of Pancasila’s justice philosophy and maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah, offering a framework for a more equitable, adaptive, and culturally responsive wage policy in Indonesia.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

milrev

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice Social Sciences

Description

MILRev Is a scientific law journal with a focus on studies in the field of Islamic law, starting from fiqh, fatwa, or qanun (laws, shariah regional regulations, compilations of Islamic laws). The aim is to develop knowledge in the field of Islamic law, in order to be able to respond to the needs of ...