New system to recruit foreign workers still under study

PUTRAJAYA: The Human Resources Ministry is still gathering feedback from industry players regarding the implementation of the proposed multi-tier levy system for the recruitment of foreign workers.

Minister M. Kula Segaran said the system, which had been implemented in Singapore, allowed employers to determine the number of foreign workers to be employed without the need to obtain a recommendation from the minister or the SecretaryGeneral of the Ministry of Human Resources.

“Apart from reducing the bureaucratic red tape and avoiding the influx of foreign workers whose employers are unknown; the online application system also gives employers freedom to find the exact number of workers they need.

“The policy provides companies flexibility to hire foreign workers and the government can regulate it based on the levy imposed,” he told a press conference after officiating the town hall session of the Independent Committee on the Management of Foreign Workers at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) here yesterday.

He said the proposal was raised in a series of meetings with industry players and stakeholders and they were told to provide feedback to the independent committee, which was set up by his ministry.

Kula Segaran also said that his ministry was studying the implementation of the bond system for the recruitment of foreign workers in a bid to overcome cases of foreign workers running away from employers.

According to him, the concept had proven to be effective in Singapore, which has a lower rate of such cases compared to Malaysia.

Under the system, employers would have to buy insurance for all their foreign workers. If any of their foreign workers run away, then the bond will be forfeited by the government.

Currently, he said, the government only used a bond system of between RM300 and RM1,500, among others to send the foreign workers home when their employment contract expired.

“However, there is a need for self-regulation in the industry, which means that employers need to provide bonds of say RM1,000 or RM2,000 bought from an insurance company at a rate of RM50 or RM100 per employee.

“If the worker flees, the bond will be forfeited by the government and the insurance firm will then raise the premium,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kula Segaran said that the Independent Committee on the Management of Foreign Workers must submit a detailed report of the town hall sessions to the Joint Committee chaired by him and Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin before the end of this month (November) for it to be raised at the Cabinet meeting.

He said that the independent committee, chaired by Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamuddin Md Yunus, had organised 11 out of the 13 town hall sessions since Oct 9, with 28 memorandums and 550 feedbacks received from 3,666 participants from among the stakeholders.

“The independent committee will look at the overall policy and management of foreign workers in the country to streamline them with the government's efforts to strengthen the management of foreign workers to be more transparent, efficient and effective,” he said.