Steven Sim(Minister of Human Resources) and the Labour Department caused great injustice to 733 migrant workers
A migrant worker, once employed, or at the very least when he/she arrives in Malaysia is entitled to be paid monthly wages irrespective of whether the employer have started get them working. The wages ought to be the agreed wages - or at the very least the MINIMUM WAGES in Malaysia. Over and above this, the employer is also supposed to pay the social security insurance - that will be paid out in case of accident or death in Malaysia, plus also RECRUITMENT FEES that the said worker has been paid.
These workers were out of work, and not paid wages for 3-6 months, and may not be paid wages for some time more - at least until they get a new employer and get their monthly pay. BUT, now they get from the award or the agreement facilitated by the Ministry and their employer only pays about RM1,412 per worker(lesser than even a monthly Minimum Wage) - when if they have not been paid wages for 3 months, they would have been entitled to at least RM4,500, and if for 6 months, at least RM9,000 > noting that Malaysia's minimum wage as of mid-2023 is RM1,500.
So, when the Ministry says that this is a landmark case - as the 733 workers have been awarded RM1 million plus - it is shocking and a great injustice.
The Minister earlier said that the employer will be black-listed - no use if these does not include the Directors and the shareholders. So easy for them to just form another company and continue employing migrant workers. NAME the employer company - their Directors and shareholders, and BLACKLIST all of them, and make sure that no company in the future with these Directors or shareholders will be allowed to recruit or employ migrant workers.
What the employer company or legal entity is HUMAN TRAFFICKING - well, they should all be charged for the crime of human trafficking. They should also be charged for crimes under the Labour/Employment laws - and they should not be offered COMPOUNDS - but charge them in court.
It is more than likely that the said employers are CONTRACTORS FOR LABOUR(Labour Suppliers) - that means employers without any work in their own company requiring workers. This was introduced on about 2006 by the then BN government - and it is believed that this may have been cronies or 'friends' of the then government.
Before, the right to recruit migrant worker was given into real employers - who after much effort fails to find local workers as employees - hence permission granted to recruit migrant workers to fulfill their labour requirements. The employer had to stipulate the kind of workers needed - example welders, brick layers, etc ... and then present the name of the migrant workers for the specific positions before they were allowed to bring in these workers to Malaysia. The relevant body like CIDB for construction industry employers will also evaluate the need and approve. This way, only needed migrant workers are brought in with a ready job available in the company... NO MORE PROBLEM OF MIGRANT WORKERS BEING BROUGHT TO MALAYSIA ONLY TO FIND THAT THEY HAVE NO REAL JOBS.
In fact, before the employer needing workers to work at their workplaces do sometimes conduct interviews and tests to determine the suitability and skills of these workers before employing them. Now with the Contractor For Labour system, they bring in workers by the numbers - and real employers with work and needing workers have to enter into agreement for the supply of workers - they have no choice, and sometimes end up with workers not suitable for the workplace.
The migrant workers to, by this COL system, many a times do not even know where they will be working for sure, and what kind of work they will be doing. Some are promised work in an electronic company - may end up finding themselves in some plantation...this is deception and definitely unjust for the worker too.
The contractor for labour(COL) is like an AP(Approved Permit) system - it generates profits and business, and worse is that many of them simply do not have monies or assets(plantation or factories), and hence when affected workers claim for monies and justice is made, many of these COL 'employers' just wind-up and the victim workers are left with no remedy. In this case, why only RM1 million - the possible reason could be that the COL 'employer'(most likely) has insufficient assets to pay the workers...
Under the then BN regime, they passed a law making the COL employers - and all the migrant workers are their employees. So when the real employer with work and workplace need workers - they only get supplied workers (who cannot be employees at the places they work - hence cannot even join unions and are accorded a different treatment compared with the real employees of the workplace - a real possibility of DISCRIMINATION amongst workers, and guess what these 'supplied workers' of COL, being not employees have NO RIGHT to fight for better working conditions or wages - WHY? They are not employees of the workplace where they really work...) - in fact the employer/owner of the workplace pays the COL who then pays their 'employees' - maybe now different wages for the same work done simply because you are not employees of the workplace owner/operator. They cannot even complain about discrimination at the workplace - although the Employment Act allows foreign employees to do so - if they are accorded a different treatment with other local employees at the same workplace...
REFORM NEEDED - Abolish the Contractor For Labour. Only allow real employers with real work that require workers to employ migrant workers and also recruit migrant workers. These real employer/owner of workplaces can employ agents to recruit workers - but ultimately the principal is responsible for all action/omission of agents.
Now, that BN is again part of this UNITY government, they may not be inclined to abolish the Contractor For Labour, who still may be their cronnies or friends. What will this PH led government do - allow the BAD PRACTICES to continue.
Now, MINISTER STEVEN SIM was fully aware of this case, so he is responsible for this UNJUST outcome too..
Human resources minister Steven Sim said 751 Bangladeshi migrant workers duped into coming to Pengerang, Johor, for jobs that did not exist have filed a RM2.21 million claim for unpaid wages from their employers.
Sim said their case will be heard at the Pengerang district labour office on Feb 5 as the workers may not be able to afford to travel to Kuala Lumpur.
It is understood that 171 of the 751 workers were arrested by police in Pengerang last month after taking part in a march to file a police report
“Employers who don’t pay their workers by claiming there is no work to be done… For us, this is a big wrongdoing,” said Sim during a press conference here.
“They deserve to be paid.”
Further, when any worker, migrant or local, makes a complaint/claim to the Labour Department - these Ministry officers must HELP the workers with their claims - ensuring all possible claims against the employer is included. The Ministry officers ought to have been aware that they were entitled to much more that RM2 million, as mentioned earlier on - why did the Labour Department officers help these migrant workers the full sum they could claim from their errant employers...
Some REFORMS Steven Sim(Minister of Human Resources) can do is to use the power of Section 2A, and ensure that all workers are EMPLOYEES of their actual workplace - not the Contractor For Labour(or the labour supplier) as this requires a MERE ORDER..
2A Minister may prohibit employment other than under contract of service(Employment Act)(1) The Minister may by order prohibit the employment, engagement or contracting of any person or class of persons to carry out work in any occupation in any agricultural or industrial undertaking, constructional work, statutory body, local government authority, trade, business or place of work other than under a contract of service entered into with-
(a) the principal or owner of that agricultural or industrial undertaking, constructional work, trade, business or place of work; or
(b) that statutory body or that authority.
(2) Upon the coming into force of any such order, the person or class of persons employed, engaged or contracted with to carry out the work shall be deemed to be an employee or employees and-
(a) the principal or owner of the agricultural or industrial undertaking, constructional work, trade, business or place of work; or
(b) the statutory body or local government authority,
shall be deemed to be the employer for the purposes of such provisions of this Act and any other written law as may be specified in the order.
Another REFORM would be to amend section 87A, to ensure that employers who fail to pay employees wages/allowance due during the stipulated time will have to pay their employees 2 TIMES(or even 5 Times) the monies due and payable to the employee - This is just. Now, all that the employer has to pay is simply the sum of monies that they had to pay but failed to pay according to law - not even additional interest, so it best to PENALIZE bad employers requiring them to pay at the very least 2 times the amount due.
In the case of these migrant workers, brought to Malaysia and not paid for 3 to 6 months, JUSTLY, the Labour Court should have ordered the employer to pay DOUBLE - RM1,500 X 2 X The number of months they failed to pay...
87A Court order for payments due to employee
(1) Where an employer has been convicted of an offence relating to the payment of wages or any other payments payable to an employee under this Act, the court before which he is convicted may order the employer to pay any payment due to the employee in relation to that offence.
Another needed amendment is to reduce Malaysia's legal monthly overtime limit - which is now 104 hours(not including work on rest days and public holidays) -
FORCED LABOUR POLICIES AND LAWS, WITHOUT ENFORCEMENT AND ENSURING VICTIMS JUSTICE IS USELESS - Laws that allow excessive overtime makes Malaysia party to propagating forced labour(20 Groups Media Statement)
Laws allowing excessive overtime makes Malaysia party to propagating forced labour (Star)
Steven Sim, be a good and JUST Minister of HUMAN Resources, and protect the workers, and not 'bad' employers...
Bangladeshi workers awarded RM1mil in unpaid wages
The human resources ministry says this is a landmark case that will serve as a reference for labour cases in the future.
PETALING JAYA: A group of 733 Bangladeshi migrant workers duped into coming to Malaysia for jobs that did not exist have been awarded more than RM1 million in unpaid wages in a settlement arranged by the Johor labour department on Monday.
The human resources ministry said today the workers and their employers reached a mutual agreement for the total payment of RM1,035,557.50 in wages.
The workers will now be placed with new employers through the labour department.
In a statement today, the ministry said: “This is a landmark case that will serve as a reference for labour cases in the future.”
The payout amounts to an average of RM1,412 per worker. The workers, who were brought to Pengerang, Johor, are believed to have been out of work for three to six months.
Last month, human resources minister Steven Sim said that 751 duped workers in Pengerang had filed a claim for RM2.21 million in unpaid wages.
In December, 171 workers were arrested by police after they marched to file a police report about being duped.
The ministry said today the workers were legally brought to Malaysia but were not provided with employment and were neglected after they arrived.
“Employers found guilty of this will be blacklisted by the authorities and their quotas for foreign workers will be cancelled,” the ministry said.
It added that the ministry would not compromise with any party that violates labour laws and it was committed to ensuring the welfare of workers in Malaysia.
Employers were reminded that they were responsible for paying workers’ wages if they were brought into Malaysia.
“Employers who don’t pay their workers by claiming there is no work
to be done… for us, this is a big wrongdoing,” Sim said at a press
conference in January. - FMT, 8/2/2024
751 duped migrant workers file RM2 million claim for unpaid wages
The case will be heard at the Pengerang district labour office on Feb 5.
PUTRAJAYA: Human resources minister Steven Sim said 751 Bangladeshi migrant workers duped into coming to Pengerang, Johor, for jobs that did not exist have filed a RM2.21 million claim for unpaid wages from their employers.
Sim said their case will be heard at the Pengerang district labour office on Feb 5 as the workers may not be able to afford to travel to Kuala Lumpur.
It is understood that 171 of the 751 workers were arrested by police in Pengerang last month after taking part in a march to file a police report
“Employers who don’t pay their workers by claiming there is no work to be done… For us, this is a big wrongdoing,” said Sim during a press conference here.
“They deserve to be paid.”
He added that the Johor labour department has opened 13 probes into the workers’ five employers, with the deputy public prosecutor set to check the investigation papers tomorrow.
Sim today revealed that the workers arrested by the police last month have been “freed”, but he did not provide more information on the matter.
Sim and home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail previously said their ministries viewed the case in Pengerang seriously and would not compromise with any party involved in foreign worker exploitation.
They agreed that the employers must face legal action under several laws, including those against human trafficking.
They also said the employers would be blacklisted from applying for new foreign workers and their remaining migrant worker quotas and approval letters would be cancelled.
They would also be prevented from renewing work permits for existing foreign workers.
At today’s press conference with Saifuddin, Sim stressed that the country’s position on foreign workers is “very clear”.
“Foreign workers are here to help support Malaysian businesses… Not to be seen as a business itself,” he said.
He added that the two ministries had agreed on new standard operating
procedures (SOPs) in which immediate action would be taken against
employers found to have committed “any wrongdoing” against their
workers. - FMT, 16/1/2024
Cops nab 171 foreigners protesting lack of jobs in Johor
Kota Tinggi police chief Hussin Zamora says the Bangladeshis were marching to the Bayu Damai police station to file a report at the time.
PETALING JAYA: Police have arrested 171 Bangladeshis seen marching together in Pengerang, Johor, in a video that went viral.
Kota Tinggi police chief Hussin Zamora said the Bangladeshis were marching towards the Bayu Damai police station to file a report on Wednesday because they claimed that their agents had not provided them jobs as promised.
“They are not undocumented migrants as they entered (the country) legally through recruitment agents.
“It is understood that they have not received any work for about three to six months,” Hussin said, according to Sinar Harian.
He said a police team was sent to the location following a report by the Malaysian armed forces on the march.
A video that has gone viral showed a car driver being shocked by the presence of scores of foreign nationals walking in a long line.
Hussin said an examination by the immigration department found that the Bangladeshi men were aged between 19 and 43.
He said they were detained under Section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration
Act 1959/63 and have been sent to the Setia Tropika immigration
department in Johor Bahru. - FMT, 25/12/2023
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