Penahanan Ijazah Pekerja oleh Pengusaha dalam Perspektif Hukum Pidana Ketenagakerjaan

Employers commonly withhold workers' original diplomas, yet the Manpower Law does not prohibit the practice and law enforcers rely on embezzlement. This normative legal study examines whether withholding diplomas constitutes embezzlement under Articles 486 and 488 of the National Criminal Code and how its prohibition should be formulated in labour legislation. Withholding during employment does not satisfy the element of appropriation, because the employer still acknowledges the worker's ownership; the element is satisfied only when the employer refuses to return the diploma after employment ends, demands a ransom, or loses it. The new labour law should adopt tiered regulation: a prohibition, administrative sanctions, and criminal sanctions for disobeying a return order.