Responding to Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran’s announcement that all migrant labour agreements would be reviewed, FMM vice-president Nathan Suppiah said he hoped this didn’t mean that Malaysian companies would no longer be allowed to hire foreigners.
He said the country still needed foreign workers because many locals didn’t want to do the so-called 3D (dirty, dangerous, demeaning) jobs.
“We understand the concerns over illegal foreign workers, and this is why we want the government to do away with agents and middlemen,” he told FMT.
FMM represents more than 3,000 companies.
Suppiah suggested that Putrajaya establish more government-to-government recruitment agreements and require employers wanting to hire foreign workers to seek approval from it through an online application system, thereby doing away with middlemen.
At present, he said, agents would encourage employers to seek approval for more workers than they required.
“Say you need 50 workers, an agent will ask you to apply for 100 because the government may only approve half the requested number,” he said. “But sometimes, the authorities actually approve 100. These workers will come in, but the employer needs only 50. So where do the rest go? They’ll work illegally elsewhere.”
Commenting on Kulasegaran’s statement that his ministry was looking into speeding up Industrial Court procedures, Suppiah proposed that the Industrial Relations Department be given the power to resolve cases involving probationary staff.
“Sometimes,” he said, “an employer dismisses a probationary worker who can’t perform after three months. Employees on probation must work hard to prove their capabilities, but sometimes they just cannot meet the job demands.
“If the two parties can’t resolve the dismissal amicably, then the Industrial Relations Department will refer the case to the minister and the Industrial Court.”
He said it would save time to let the department resolve such cases at its level.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Kulasegaran said he would give his ministry three months to clear the backlog of 1,970 cases in the Industrial Court.