Logistics company Hong Heng Transport & Trading Sdn Bhd has agreed to pay RM2.6 million in Employees Provident Fund (EPF) arrears for 268 lorry drivers.
This formed part of a consent judgment recorded before the High Court in Ipoh yesterday to resolve a four-year civil action by EPF against the firm.
According to a report by Sosialis.net, the company agreed to pay the EPF arrears for the 268 lorry drivers for a six-year period from 2011 to 2017, totalling RM2,638,595.
The online portal reported the payment breakdown as RM1,227,024 for workers contributions, and RM1,411,571 for employers' contributions, which would be paid by the employer into the workers’ EPF accounts in stages over 48 months, from Oct 31 this year to Sept 30, 2025.
It was also reported that as part of the settlement, Hong Heng Transport & Trading also agreed to withdraw a third-party claim against the 268 truckers for each of them to pay their own workers’ contributions (in the event that the firm lost in the suit against it by EPF).
“This consent judgment is a victory in the struggle by Gabungan Pemandu Lori (GPL). GPL, which was set up by Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), had lodged a complaint on the case of the employers’ (alleged) failure to make contributions in accordance with the EPF Act in January 2017.
“GPL’s complaint led to legal action from EPF to Hong Heng Transport in November 2018.
“After being (allegedly) dragged on for nearly four years since the complaint was lodged, including facing the company’s act of hauling the workers to court to (allegedly) force the workers to pay for the employer’s own (alleged) wrongdoing, finally the employer had to abide (to the court’s decision) and the lorry drivers achieved justice,” the portal reported.
The truckers were represented by counsel Bawani KS, who is also PSM secretary-general.
In January 2017, GPL, which represented lorry drivers hired by Hong Heng Transport & Trading, lodged the complaint at the EPF headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, over the employer’s alleged failure to make EPF contributions in line with the EPF Act.
Following investigations, EPF had then filed the civil action against the firm in November 2018. - Mkini
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