The council’s migrant, refugees and immigration affairs committee co-chairman, M Ramachelvam, praised human resources minister Steven Sim for stressing that employees are entitled to their salaries even if they are not given any work.

“The loophole that employers are not liable to pay migrant workers who were brought in by them to the country because no work was assigned to the workers, cannot be relied on by employers anymore,” Ramachelvam said in a statement.

“This decision by the government will also serve as a deterrent for employers to ensure that they do not misuse the quota for migrant worker approvals.

“The government should also work with the (workers’) countries of origin to ensure that there is no abuse in the recruitment process, including the charging of exorbitant fees from the migrant workers.”

Ramachelvam said the approval process for migrant worker quotas must be reviewed and enhanced.

He said this approval process could potentially involve the relevant authorities making site visits to ensure that “applications are genuine and work is available”.

He said action should be taken pursuant to the relevant laws, including criminal and employment legislation, against employers and agents who abuse the migrant worker recruitment process.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Sim criticised employers who refused to pay their workers by claiming that there is no work available for them.

“This will be our policy going forward. The human resources ministry considers that any worker brought into Malaysia must be paid, regardless of whether the worker did any work or not,” he said.

He also said 751 Bangladeshi migrant workers, who were deceived with false promises of non-existent jobs in Pengerang, Johor, have filed a RM2.21 million claim for unpaid wages from their employers.

Their case is scheduled to be heard at the Pengerang district labour office on Feb 5.