A group of 97 migrant workers, faced with inadequate support from labour officers, are resorting to legal assistance to assert their rights to unpaid wages at the Bangi Labour Department.
Caught in the quota fraud scandal exposed by Malaysiakini, former Aecor Innovation Sdn Bhd workers reached the end of their tether last week when the Labour Department, despite prior knowledge, failed to inform them of their former employer’s absence, barring the case from proceeding.
Speaking to Malaysiakini anonymously, the workers said they are grateful their current employer, multinational shipping firm, Maersk, allowed them to take leave and provided them transportation from Shah Alam to the labour office in Bangi.
However, the repeated absence by employer Ng Yeen Seen has delayed their claims.
“If the Labour Department informed us in advance, we would not have to take leave.
“We feel we have a better chance to get our claims in full and quicker if we have a lawyer representing us,” said one worker who asserted that their latest fruitless journey on Jan 16 could have been avoided.
While this was not the first time the hearing has been stalled due to valid reasons for the former employer’s absence, the mounting anxiety of the workers intensifies with every visit to the labour office, as they eagerly anticipate a judgment.
In response to checks from Malaysiakini, the Labour Department has claimed not to have the contacts of workers who did not have email addresses.
However, Malaysiakini sighted an email dated Dec 4, 2023, that was sent to workers’ email addresses informing them of a hearing scheduled for Jan 2, 2024.
The workers asserted that the labour officers had their email addresses and contact numbers.
Workers’ continued frustration
Out of the six hearings scheduled since last November, the workers missed one meeting due to leave constraints, while their former employer attended only one.
On one such meeting, on Dec 4, 2023, workers believed they would receive a judgment, so informed their families back home.
However, they faced disappointment as they were turned away empty-handed because their employer had a valid reason for being unable to attend.
One distressed worker whose repeated postponements to send money home had caused frustration, told Malaysiakini they had to break the bad news to family members waiting to receive some money.
For the workers, the outcome from the Labour Department holds the promise of receiving unpaid wages from the past year - which would go toward settling hefty debts incurred as recruitment fees for promised jobs in Malaysia.
“She (former employer) is supposed to come to the Bangi Labour Department but she doesn’t show up.
“Not only me but everyone who had their salaries unpaid is tensed and she (former employer) is frustrating us,” said the worker who was one of six representing the entire group at the labour office.
Government defrauded
Aecor Innovation was among the six companies which the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) was investigating in connection to an individual arrested over allegations that he was part of a migrant worker recruitment scam.
Last November, Malaysiakini’s exposé uncovered how fake contracts purported to be worth millions of ringgit with non-existent companies, were used to get quotas to import more than 1,000 workers.
Workers from two of the six companies - Puncak Jupiter Management Services Sdn Bhd and Aecor Innovation - lodged police reports last June and October, respectively.
However, the CCID found no evidence of cheating, according to the Penal Code.
The investigation into potential fraud within the department’s purview has been discontinued, but other agencies are continuing their investigations.
Lost faith in Labour Department
While the workers' claims varied in amounts ranging from RM4,800 to RM7,200 each, for unpaid wages last July, August and September, they now want to revise their claims to include unpaid wages since their arrival in Malaysia.
This was following the Human Resources Minister Steven Sim’s warning to employers on Jan 16, that wages should be paid regardless of whether workers were deployed to work.
Sim’s recent warning prompted the Bar Council to question the role of the Labour Department in facilitating successful claims for unpaid wages by stranded migrants, emphasising the need for the department to proactively step up its efforts.
However, in this case, former Aecor workers have lost faith in the Labour Department, which omitted to advise them accordingly.
Believing the agency did not have their best interest in mind, the workers are counting on their legal representative to manoeuvre the Employment Act 1995 clauses concerning the former employer’s calculations.
At this juncture, their legal representative opted to maintain anonymity.
The calculations provided by the former employer, sighted by Malaysiakini, reveal reduced wages due to deductions.
In several instances, workers were owed nothing in some months and others, they were noted to owe the former employer instead.
One worker owed as much as RM800 for one month. - Mkini
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