Employing a foreigner at a Bali villa: RPTKA, work permit and open positions

Many Bali villas are run day to day by a foreign manager, often a friend of the owner or a hire found locally. Indonesian labor law treats that as employing a foreign worker, with a short list of conditions: who may be the employer, which jobs are open, a plan approved in advance, a monthly fund and an Indonesian understudy. This page reads the labor law as amended in 2023, its 2021 regulation, the ministry's position lists and the immigration rules.

Seven words in foreign hiring

The terms in the regulations and on the forms.

Who may employ a foreigner

UU 13/2003 Pasal 42(2), as amended: “Pemberi Kerja orang perseorangan dilarang mempekerjakan Tenaga Kerja Asing” — individual employers may not employ foreign workers. Breach carries 1 to 4 years' prison and/or IDR 100-400 million (Pasal 185). A villa owned personally cannot put a foreign manager on its payroll.

PP 34/2021 Pasal 3 lists who can: among them foreign private companies doing business in Indonesia, and a PT or foundation under Indonesian law — but not a PT founded by one person (ayat (2)). A PT PMA is a PT; that it qualifies is our reading, as the regulation does not name PMAs. A management company employing the manager is another route.

The plan comes first

The employer must have an approved foreign-worker plan (RPTKA) (Pasal 42(1)). It states the reason, the position in the organization, the number, duration and location, the Indonesian companion and the yearly plan to absorb Indonesian workers (PP 34/2021 Pasal 12(2)). It is valid up to 2 years, extendable; 6 months for temporary work (Pasal 17), and its approval serves as the recommendation for the work visa (Pasal 14(6)). Directors or commissioners with certain shareholdings, or shareholders, are exempt as regulated (Pasal 42(3); PP 34/2021 Pasal 19).

Which villa jobs are open

Foreign workers may be employed only for certain positions and periods, with matching competence (Pasal 42(4)) — which the Constitutional Court in 2024 read as subject to giving priority to Indonesian workers. The ministry's list for accommodation and food service opens twelve positions.

Commissioner or director roles that do not handle personnel are also allowed (Kepmenaker 228/2019, KEDUA). A “villa manager” title is not on the list; whether a role fits “Hotel Manager” or “Operations Manager” is what the RPTKA has to show.

What the employer owes, and in what order

• Compensation fund. USD 100 per person per month per position (PP 41/2023); paying it is a condition of the RPTKA approval (PP 34/2021 Pasal 23).
• Companion and training. an Indonesian companion worker, trained for the role, and repatriation when the job ends (Pasal 45).
• Social security. BPJS if over 6 months; insurance if under, covering at least work accidents (PP 34/2021 Pasal 8).

The sequence

1. An eligible employer. A PT under Indonesian law with more than one founder, or another listed employer (PP 34/2021 Pasal 3).
2. A listed position that does not handle personnel (Kepmenaker 228/2019 and 349/2019).
3. The RPTKA, naming the Indonesian companion and the plan to absorb Indonesian workers (Pasal 12), approved by the Manpower Minister after the compensation fund is paid (Pasal 23(5)).
4. The work visa: the RPTKA approval is the recommendation for it (Pasal 14(6)); the E23 visa needs the ministry's work authorisation, and the ITAS issues on entry.
5. Social security from the start: BPJS for work over six months, insurance for shorter stays (Pasal 8).
6. Renewal or exit. An RPTKA for work over six months lasts up to two years and can be extended; at the end the employer repatriates the worker (Pasal 17; UU 13/2003 Pasal 45(1)(c)).

Immigration, and when it goes wrong

The work visa is the E23 work visa, issuing an ITAS on entry; it needs the Manpower Ministry's authorisation, and the stay permit issues automatically on entry. Employing without an approved RPTKA is an administrative breach: fines of IDR 6 million a month per person, up to IDR 36 million, suspension or revocation of the RPTKA (PP 34/2021 Pasal 36-37; UU 13/2003 Pasal 190). Skipping the companion and training duties carries 1-12 months' detention and/or IDR 10-100 million (Pasal 187). On the immigration side, a foreigner working outside the purpose of the stay permit — and anyone who lets them — faces up to 5 years and IDR 500 million (UU 6/2011 Pasal 122). KITAS for owners.

What this page does not cover

• A new labor protection law reported as passed in October 2026; we could not read its text.
• Tax on a foreign employee's salary.
• Volunteers and unpaid helpers, which the texts read do not single out.
• Vetting villa staff and signing NDAs, Indonesian or foreign: the SKCK police certificate, the data protection rules and confidentiality clauses are on villa staff contracts, vetting and NDAs.

Common questions