20pc salary deduction for foreign workers proposed
PUTRAJAYA: The Human Resources Ministry has proposed that employers deduct 20 per cent of their foreign workers’ basic salaries.
Its minister, M. Kulasegaran, said the proposal, among others, was aimed at preventing foreign workers from fleeing and to prevent employers from incurring losses on investments to bring the workers to the country.
He said the issue of foreign workers fleeing was among major problems faced by employers and the proposal intended to address the situation.
“The proposal was submitted to the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) last week and will be discussed among the 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 said after a dialogue session with 60 employers from the rubber glove industry here yesterday.
Kulasegaran said the money deducted from the foreign workers’ wages would be kept by the Social Security Organisation (Socso) and handed to them when they left the country following the expiry of their work permits.
“The issue has been raised in the meeting and a majority of employers welcomed the proposal,” he said, adding that the government did not set any time frame 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 was successful in addressing the issue of foreign workers fleeing.
Kulasegaran said his ministry had appointed Klang member of parliament Charles Santiago as the coordinator of an independent auditor 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 before being elected as a people’s representative, was tasked with preparing reports for the ministry pertaining to the country’s rubber glove makers’ compliance with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Standards on Migrant Workers.
He said among others, the report would focus on the allegation of forced migrant labour and issues pertaining to the welfare of 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 regard to forced migrant labour,” he said.
On Dec 9, the Guardian newspaper in the United Kingdom reported that one of the world’s largest rubber glove makers, Top Glove Corp Berhad, had exploited thousands of foreign workers by forcing them to work more than 160 hours a month, exceeding the legal limit of 104 hours allowed by the Malaysian law.