All 171 Bangladeshi workers who were left stranded in the country without jobs in Pengerang, Johor recently have filed a claim for RM2.21mil in unpaid wages from their employers, says the Human Resources Minister.
Steven Sim said that after attending the Third Joint-Meeting between the Home Ministry and Human Resources Ministry on Migrant Workers Management on Tuesday (Jan 16), adding that the case would be heard at the Pengerang district labour office on Feb 5.
Sim said the government’s stand was that the offence that was made by the company was serious and the employees deserved their pay despite the situation.
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Steven Sim said that after attending the Third Joint-Meeting between the Home Ministry and Human Resources Ministry on Migrant Workers Management on Tuesday (Jan 16), adding that the case would be heard at the Pengerang district labour office on Feb 5.
Sim said the government’s stand was that the offence that was made by the company was serious and the employees deserved their pay despite the situation.
Read more at http://tinyurl.com/mwsvd592
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
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NewsTranscript
00:00 "I would like to say that today's meeting was very successful with the seven papers
00:07 that have been submitted as stated by Dato' Sri, the Minister of Home Affairs.
00:15 Among them are the management of foreign workers, issues of control, issues to avoid the neglect
00:22 of workers, rights of workers and so on.
00:26 Our position in the Ministry of Human Resources is clear.
00:30 That if foreign workers are recruited to our country, it is to support and support
00:37 the local businesses in Malaysia and not as a business.
00:43 We are very clear that the hiring of foreign labour in Malaysia is to support our businesses
00:49 here in Malaysia and not to be seen as a business in itself.
00:53 That is our position.
00:55 We have also put forward a more systematic SOP process to deal with issues such as those
01:04 that arose in Pengerang last December, using three Cs.
01:11 One is C for current.
01:15 That is, when there is a job loss or a crime in a case like in Pengerang, what needs to
01:21 be done, the action must be immediately carried out.
01:24 I will explain that later.
01:25 I will give a report on what happened in Pengerang.
01:28 The second is for the same employer, the crime, incoming, the incoming quota that has not
01:36 yet entered, we will freeze it.
01:39 We will freeze it, we will stop it.
01:41 The third is as a cautionary step, the third C, we will blacklist the crime.
01:49 For the case in Pengerang, I want to report that so far the Johor State Employment Office
01:57 has prepared 13 investigations papers on five employers related to crimes and misconduct
02:06 under Article 446, the Minimum Standard of Housing, Accommodation and Employment.
02:14 These investigations will be submitted by the Supreme Court tomorrow, 17 January, and
02:21 the proceedings will be taken after the Supreme Court has submitted them.
02:27 In addition, more than 751 employees, foreigners and Bangladeshi citizens have filed cases
02:38 to request a salary increase, which totals Rp 2.21 million, under Section 69 of the Employment
02:50 Act.
02:51 The application for a case has been submitted to the Director of the company, and the date
02:58 of the case has been set for 5 February.
03:02 Usually, we will call for the case to be submitted to the Supreme Court, but this time we will
03:10 do it in Pengerang, given the ability of the foreigners to come to Kuala Lumpur.
03:18 In this case, we have also set up a Human Resources Administration in terms of salary and
03:28 income. Our position is that foreigners who come to Malaysia are not paid by employers
03:39 on the grounds that there is no work to be done, even though the workers are willing to
03:46 work.
03:47 For example, as what happened in Pengerang, our position is that this is a serious mistake,
03:54 that as long as the workers are entitled to their salaries, even though there is no work
04:02 to be done, in accordance with the provisions of the case law, which has been mentioned in
04:12 the court ruling, etc.
04:15 It is our position that after this, the Human Resources Administration, on the first basis,
04:25 we will assume that the workers who come to Malaysia are obliged to be paid, whether
04:33 there is work or not, in accordance with what I said earlier, the work certificate and
04:38 also the judgment in the law related to this issue.
04:43 The judgment that was mentioned was the judgment of the High Court of the Indian Republic
04:49 in 2016, Judge Azizah Nawawi, regarding a case that was raised by undocumented workers.
04:55 And the case was then brought to the Court of Appeal and also admitted the decision.
05:01 So that is one of the things that is the basis that was pointed out by you.
05:07 One more issue that is of public concern that has been raised is about piercing the corporate
05:14 will.
05:15 There are many who are concerned that the action is taken only on the company, the company
05:22 entity.
05:23 But in this aspect, we will use the provisions of Section 101B, the Labor Act, to pierce
05:30 the corporate will, which is an action that is also introduced to the directors and managers
05:36 of the company, and not only to the company as an entity corporates.
05:41 Thank you.
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