Keep 20% of salaries to stop foreign workers from fleeing, says Kula

Human Resources Minister M Kula Segaran says the issue of foreign workers fleeing is a major problem.

PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Human Resources is proposing that employers deduct 20% of their foreign workers’ basic salaries, saying it would prevent them from fleeing.

Minister M Kula Segaran also said the move could avoid employers from incurring losses on their investments in the workers.

He said the issue of foreign workers fleeing was a major problem faced by the employers, and the proposal was seen as a way to address the situation.

“The proposal was submitted to the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) last week and it is open for discussion by stakeholders before it is finalised.

“If implemented, it is a win-win situation for employers and workers as both parties will benefit from the deduction,” he told reporters after a dialogue session with 60 employers in the rubber glove industry here today.

Kula said the money deducted from the wages of foreign workers would be kept in the Social Security Organisation (Socso).

It will be handed over to them when they leave the country once after their work permit is expired.

“This issue has also been raised in the meeting and the majority of employers have welcomed the proposal.”

He said the government had not set any time frame to implement this plan and left it to the industry players whether to accept or reject the proposal.

He said the proposal was not new to the industry as it had been implemented in Japan and South Korea, and it had been successful in addressing the issue of foreign workers fleeing.

Meanwhile, Kula announced the appointment of Klang MP Charles Santiago as the coordinator to carry out a comprehensive social compliance audit on rubber glove makers in the country.

He said Santiago, an experienced activist involved in social audit nationwide, was tasked with preparing reports to the ministry pertaining to the country’s rubber glove makers’ compliance with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Standards on Migrant Workers.

He said among the aspects to be focused on in the report would be forced labour, the issue of foreign workers being forced to work excessive overtime, as well as several other criteria pertaining to migrant workers as set by the ILO.

“This report can be used by the government to respond to the allegations made by the British government, parliamentarians in Europe and foreign companies in regards to forced migrant labour,” he said.

On Dec 9, the UK’s Guardian reported that Top Glove Berhad exploited thousands of foreign workers, including forcing them to work more than 160 hours a month, exceeding the legal limit of 104 hours allowed by Malaysian law.

According to the report, apart from excessive overtime, the workers were also exposed to “unsafe” factory conditions and had their passports confiscated.

They claimed the high recruitment fees they paid kept them in debt bondage and salaries were withheld for months.

Kula refuted the claim on Tuesday after inspections were carried out by his officers at almost all factories owned by the company here and in Ipoh.

They found foreign workers in the company were working overtime voluntarily to earn more. - FMT