How Ruangguru is allegedly underpaying its outsourced workers

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Indonesian edtech major Ruangguru is having a great year so far: The company banked US$55 million in new funding recently, has served more than 22 million users globally, and has achieved its first profitable year in 2020. Everyone’s applauding – except its outsourced workers who took to social media and accused the “soonicorn” for underpaying them.

Today we look at:

• Ruangguru’s alleged below-minimum wage for its outsourced workers
• A Singapore-based fintech firm’s goal to help financial institutions go green
• Other newsy highlights such as a Chinese Tesla car owner staging a protest and the partnership between Eat Just and Foodpanda

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Ruangguru is in its workers’ bad books for reportedly underpaying them

Ruangguru is going viral on social media, but for the wrong reasons: Its outsourced workers have gone to social media to allege that the Indonesian edtech major had paid them well below the minimum wage.

• A monthly salary of US$24: That was how much an outsourced worker said they were paid, inclusive of their monthly and lunch allowances. Another worker said he received only US$17.
• Reading between the lines: Jobs posted by the company were also misleading. One worker said he had applied for an account manager role on Ruangguru’s job portal but was contacted instead by its outsourced recruitment agency, which offered him an entirely different position.
• One for the books: Our journalist took a look at the contracts signed by the workers and found out that these were partnership contracts and not employment contracts at all – probably violating the hiring regulations in Indonesia.
• Reevaluated: Tech in Asia spoke to a Ruangguru spokesperson, who said that the company has been reassessing the program since January 2021. The outsourced company that Ruangguru was working with has gradually begun establishing a PKWT employment relationship with the participants. In addition, the workers we spoke to were actually part of a weeks-long traineeship program in which selected candidates will be granted an employment agreement with the full compensation benefits.

Read more: Ruangguru’s outsourced workers allegedly paid below minimum wage

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