‘HR Ministry needs bigger role in hiring foreigners’

SHAH ALAM: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has suggested that the Human Resources Ministry be given a bigger role in the recruitment of foreign workers to ensure that future intakes will be based only on necessity.

Its deputy secretary-general, A. Balasubramaniam, said the ministry would be in a better position to provide guidelines and procedures, which would clarify the process of hiring foreign workers besides ensuring that it complied with government requirements.

“Although the Home Ministry is handling the procurement of foreign workers, the Human Resources Ministry should be allowed to have a say on the issuance of permits for foreign workers.

“By doing so, abuses can e prevented. The Labour Department, under the Human Resources Ministry, has 72 offices.

“These offices are more aware of the need to engage foreign workers in a sector.”

He said there must be a clear policy on the recruitment of foreign workers so that the role of middlemen would be eliminated.

“Responsible recruitment practices must not include charging recruitment-related fees at any stage in the recruitment process, whether by employers, their contractors or agents from the receiving and sending countries.”