Bar: Labour Dept must step up significantly to aid stranded migrants

The Bar Council is placing the responsibility for stranded migrant workers claiming their unpaid wages on the shoulders of the Labour Department, urging unprecedented proactive measures.

The council’s Migrants, Refugees, and Immigration Affairs Committee co-chairperson M Ramachelvam said department officers should provide the workers with translators to ensure they were successful in their claims.

“The Labour Department has to step up its role significantly,” he said while applauding Human Resources Minister Steven Sim’s recent warning to employers.

Sim on Tuesday said wages should be paid regardless of whether workers were deployed to work.

Ramachelvam (above) said labour officers should do more when they come across migrants with legal immigration statuses stranded without jobs and pay.

He said the officers should not limit themselves to addressing accommodation issues under the Employees’ Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodations, and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446).

Human Resources Minister Steven Sim

“Whenever they come across these cases, violations under Act 446 are addressed but wages are not, and most workers who have no NGOs aiding them are unaware they can claim their unpaid wages or how to do so,” he told Malaysiakini.

Throughout last year, news reports exposed widespread cases of migrants stranded without jobs across Malaysia despite being brought in through legal channels.

Among them were hundreds of workers recruited under quotas obtained using fake documents, who arrived here to find themselves jobless for months.

The quota fraud scandal exposed by Malaysiakini also revealed that workers were not paid and had barely enough to eat which prompted charitable organisations to step in and provide provisions.

Defrauded workers told Malaysiakini the Labour Department was aware of their plight and was actively pursuing their reemployment.

The department oversaw the transfer of jobless migrants to new employers and they were also allowed to switch from one labour sector to another.

Migrant workers

Loopholes allow exploitation

Ramachelvam said employers who promised workers jobs were liable to pay their salaries.

He said most of the migrant workers’ employment contracts also indicated that work commenced from the date of arrival, which meant they were employees whose rights were protected under the Employment Act 1955.

The Employment Act extends to migrant workers and requires employee wages to be paid no later than the 7th of every month.

“They are employees whom you (employers) have brought with the promise of employment and whether you give them work or not, you should pay them,” he stressed.

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Ramachelvam, said issues raised by employers like their inability to deploy workers before their visa commenced and whether or not work was done, were loopholes that allowed employers to exploit workers.

“These are issues not to be shouldered by the workers. Employers cannot use these excuses and profit off their shortcomings,” he said. - Mkini