Minister: Employers replacing locals with migrants liable to RM50k fine

 

Human Resources Minister V Sivakumar has issued a warning to Malaysian employers found to initiate layoffs of local workers and replace them with migrant labourers hired under relaxed conditions for quota approvals.

He said this followed increased complaints against local companies allegedly pursuing such measures, the latest involving 102 workers at a company in Penang, after receiving approvals to hire more migrant workers.

“I would like to sternly warn employers and local companies that quota approvals and approvals to hire migrant workers are given in order to address a labour shortage and not in any way as an excuse to replace existing local workers.

“I would also like to advise employers that priority for each existing vacancy should be given to local workers,” Sivakumar (above) said in a statement today.

“The action of an employer or company to lay off local workers and replace them with migrants is an offence under Section 60M of the Employment Act 1955.

“Any employers or companies found to have committed the offence are liable to a fine of RM50,000 for each offence and the Human Resource Ministry will cancel the approved quotas for hiring migrant workers,” stressed the minister.

Sivakumar’s warning came amidst the Relaxation of Employment of Foreign Workers Plan in five critical sectors - plantation, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and service (restaurants) - from Jan 17 to March 31.

Under the plan, employers will be allowed to hire foreign workers from 15 source countries without going through the preconditions of employment and quota eligibility.

The relaxed preconditions include bypassing a requirement for employers to prioritise local workers by advertising available vacancies on the ministry’s dedicated portal.

Previously, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress had reportedly raised similar concerns over companies allegedly sidelining local workers over new migrant worker recruits who would be paid a lower salary, as such reducing overall operating costs.

Since the launch of the policy to expedite approvals to hire migrant workers, Malaysia through related ministries and government departments had initiated new engagements with major source countries including Indonesia, Nepal, and Bangladesh, with a focus on boosting arrival numbers and reducing recruitment costs. - Mkini