'eWages' system proposed for prompt pay to foreign workers

The Human Resources Ministry has proposed the implementation of eWages as a salary monitoring system for foreign workers, said its minister M Saravanan.

"The eWages initiative will be implemented soon to monitor prompt payment of wages to foreign workers," he said in a statement today.

The statement, on the management of foreign workers, also mentioned that the proposed system was agreed to by the cabinet on Jan 12.

Saravanan (above) said as a member of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Malaysia strictly observed its 11 indicators on forced labour which also cover conducive living conditions for workers.

The ministry has made it compulsory for employers to fully comply with the Standard Minimum of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446) as a mandatory requirement to employ foreign workers, he said.

"Moving forward, the ministry is in the midst of planning to regulate and introduce a Centralised Labour Quarters (CLQ) within a span of five years for an effective and coordinated supervision of foreign workers," he said.

Saravanan said his ministry was concluding the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Indonesian domestic workers after getting the official nod from the cabinet on Feb 23.

The MOUs with Vietnam, Cambodia, India, and Sri Lanka are currently in the final stages of discussion, all of which had lapsed during the Movement Control Order (MCO) in the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.

He said that so far, the ministry has concluded and signed MOUs with 10 source countries and is finalising the MOUs that have expired.

- Bernama