Company fined RM20k for failure to provide certified accommodation for workers

 

A company was fined RM20,000 by the Sessions Court in Alor Setar today for failing to provide workers’ accommodation or dormitories certified by the Department of Labour (JTK) last January.

The general manager of Syarikat Twenty-Twenty Food Industry Sdn Bhd, whose name was not given, pleaded guilty when two charges against the company were read out before judge Sharifah Norazilita Syed Salim Idid.

Under the first charge, the company as the employer allegedly housed a foreign worker named Nenni Juniarti Tanjung in a place without a certificate of accommodation from the JTK director-general as required under Section 24(D) (1) of the Workers' Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446).

The company committed the offence at No 1, Jalan Kedundung, Pokok Sena, near here, at 10.30 am on Jan 13 and was charged under Section 24D(3) of Act 446, which provides for a fine of up to RM50,000 on conviction.

For the second charge, the company as the employer failed to provide accommodation according to the minimum requirements stipulated under sub-section 3 (1) of the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities (Accommodation and Centralised Accommodation) Regulations 2020.

The company breached the requirement of providing at least one bathroom and one toilet for 15 workers (1:15) to its 146 workers at the same place, date and time.

The company was charged under subsection 3(2) of the same regulations for the offence, which is punishable under Section 33 of Act 446.

Kedah JTK prosecuting officer Norulaskin Mustafa prosecuted the case while the company was unrepresented.

According to the facts of the case, the company is said to have provided only two blocks of hostels to house about 150 employees at the dormitories behind the factory. - Bernama