One of the WORST crimes committed by Employers against Workers is non-payment of WAGES to workers IN TIME - and we need a DETERRENT sentence like the PAYMENT of 5 Times Wages that was not paid in time... to be paid the victim worker. (Now, the worker just get what the employer was supposed to pay then(maybe years/months ago) now - HOW UNJUST)...Delay in wage payment plunges workers deeper into poverty especially those in the B40 group that receives low wages...
We have precedent for another serious crime - For Corruption Crimes under the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act - the penalty imposed in Section 24, beside imprisonment, must be noted ... (b) a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the gratification which is the subject matter of the offence, where such gratification is capable of being valued or is of a pecuniary nature, or ten thousand ringgit, whichever is the higher.
YES - withholding of wages is FORCED LABOUR - non-payment and delay in payment of wages is also FORCED LABOUR... So, requiring an employer who does not pay wages in time to have tp pay FIVE TIMES is just, and is a GOOD DETERRENT
So, if employer FAIL to pay workers in time - JUSTLY should not the worker be entitled to 2 times to 5 times the total sum of wages DUE and payable, maybe depending on the delay.
REALITY is that most workers are AFRAID of their employer - afraid that they may be terminated if they 'fight for their rights' or lodge a complaint about withholding of wages - so if the employer tells a worker that wages are to be delayed, these 'fearful' workers may be 'forced' to agree, and some may even sign agreements consenting to wage delays - but this is a RIGHT in law - payment must be made within a specified time. Thus any such 'consent' or even 'agreement' should be considered illegal.
The most fearful workers are workers employed on short-term contracts(usually 1 year or LESS) - they hope for an extension of the employment contract - so they are more likely to agree for fear of 'angering' employer - resulting on termination or no extension of their employment contracts.
If not enough money, employers can always get a BANK Loan and pay workers. Why should workers suffer, and sometimes have to take out LOANS, sometimes from ALONGs(illegal moneylenders) to survive? And at the end of the day, they just get their wages - with no additional monies to cover their sufferings including sometimes that draconian interest of 15% per month charged by some ALONGs.
NO WAGES - Note the SUFFERING for workers who still monies to settle all financial obligations or suffer the consequences. Some even forced to go to ALONGs to borrow money to survive
When an employer breaks the law, and do not pay the worker in Malaysia their monthly salary in time, GREAT suffering for the worker as every worker needs money to pay rent(or pay the Bank their monthly housing loan payment), pay their electricity/water bills, pay for FOOD for themselves and their children, pay other Loan/Hire Purchase payment for their cars/motorbikes and even household appliances, etc. Many will need MONEY and thus may be forced to BORROW or take loans. Unfortunately, banks are not available for many, forcing these workers out of desperation to take out LOANS from ALONGs(the illegal money lenders who sometimes charge interest of even about 13% percent or more per month. Banks and legal money lenders need 'security' before loans are given to the poor, and this security is not available to the poor - and thus, a DELAY of payment of wages can plunge them into greater suffering.
If you do not pay your monthly loan payments - you can end up losing your TV/Refrigerator/Furniture/Motor bike/etc ... or even your homes
UNJUSTLY, even after the worker takes the employer to Court to get his wages, wages for work on rest days, wages for overtime, wages for work on public holidays, etc ....ALL that the employer will need to pay is JUST THE AMOUNT OF WAGES/ETC THAT HE DELAYED PAYMENT...
JUSTLY, for wages not paid, should not the EMPLOYER be required to PAY at least FIVE times the wages that he should have paid .... not later than the seventh day after the last day of any wage period. If he fails, should not the EMPLOYER be penalized by requiring the employer to pay at least 3 TIMES the amount of wages due? or 5 times the wages due?
LOOK at the law now, which certainly must be amended fast if the Government CARE about workers. Sadly, the government seem to be pro-employer, noting also a recent HIGH Court case that found the then Minister of Human Resources, Steven Sim, BIASED in favour of the employer
The Court Judgment that found Steven Sim(former HR Minister) to have 'demonstrated a clear bias' and failed to be a a neutral arbiter
Minister Steven Sim must honourably resign, or be removed from Cabinet because the Court have found him to be BIASED - not just allegations by politicians/public?
The LAW now for withholding wages, etc -.. to pay to the employee concerned the wages due for work done
PAY 5 TIMES the amount withheld to workers100 Penalties for failure or non-compliance in relation to rest days, overtime, holidays, annual leave, and sick leave
(1) Any employer who fails to pay any of his employees wages for work done by his employee on a rest day or pays wages less than the rate provided under section 60 commits an offence, and shall also, on conviction, be ordered by the court before which he is convicted to pay to the employee concerned the wages due for work done on every rest day at the rate provided under section 60, and the amount of such wages shall be recoverable as if it were a fine imposed by such court.
(2) Any employer who fails to pay to any of his employees any overtime wages as provided under this Act or any subsidiary legislation made thereunder commits an offence, and shall also, on conviction, be ordered by the court before which he is convicted to pay to the employee concerned the overtime wages due, and the amount of overtime wages so ordered by the court to be paid shall be recoverable as if it were a fine imposed by such court.
(3) Any employer who fails to pay to any of his employees wages as provided under section 60D, commits an offence, and shall also, on conviction, be ordered by the court before which he is convicted to pay to the employee concerned the wages due for any work done on any such holiday at the rate provided under section 60D, and the amount of wages so ordered by the court to be paid shall be recoverable as if it were a fine imposed by such court.
(4) Any employer who fails to grant to any of his employees annual leave or any part thereof as provided under section 60E commits an offence, and shall also, on conviction, be ordered by the court before which he is convicted to pay to the employee concerned the ordinary rate of pay in respect of every day of such leave not so granted, the payment so ordered being in addition to the wages payable to the employee for the work done on any such day, and the amount so ordered by the court to be paid shall be recoverable as if it were a fine imposed by such court.
(5) Any employer who fails to grant sick leave, or fails to pay sick leave pay, to any of his employees, as provided under section 60F commits an offence, and shall also, on conviction, be ordered by the court before which he is convicted to pay to the employee concerned the sick leave pay for every day of such sick leave at the rate provided under section 60F, and the amount so ordered by the court to be paid shall be recoverable as if it were a fine imposed by such court.
OR if you want different RATES based on DELAY
If the delay is LESS than a Month, 2 TIMES the amount of monies payable to the worker
If the delay is MORE than a Month, 5 TIMES the amount of monies due and payable to the worker..
SUCH laws will DETER Employers - and END the non-payment of wages and/or monies due to the worker in Malaysia...
AS it is, this Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim Pakatan Harapan-led Coalition Government is NOT CONCERNED about workers - when it set the MINIMUM WAGE at RM1,700 - ignoring the fact that this is NOT enough for worker and family to survive. NOW, even as cost of living is going up because of the illegal war commenced by US-Israel against IRAN, this MADANI government is not even increasing MINIMUM WAGE of workers, which would have been a reasonable response.
Bank Negara Malaysia and even EPF/KWSP said the Minimum Wage for living is about RM3,000 -but the MINIMUM WAGE in law now is RM1,700? Government must set the LEGAL Minimum Wage - and then it is up to workers and/or UNIONS to fight for a HIGHER Minimum Wage with their employers
DISCRIMINATION also when public officer Minimum Wage is RM2,000 ...
The minimum wage for civil servants is now RM2,000, the minimum wage for the progressive wage pilot scheme is RM1,810 and Bank Negara estimated a living wage of RM2,700 in 2018 that would now be above RM3,000 taking inflation into account. EPF Belanjawanku estimates are also in line with this. - FMT, 25/9/2024
Note, the above figures are in 2024 - now amount of income a worker needs for him and his family to live maybe much higher.
WORKERS should decide who to VOTE into government - a government that will ensure a REASONABLE Minimum wage - not what is NOW. The HIGHER minimum wage for big Employers,,,and a lower minimum wage for the small employer who sells food in stalls/market/etc...
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