Kula: Child labour laws will be updated

Keeping our children safe: Kula delivering his opening remarks at the launch of Malaysia’s World Day Against Child Labour 2018 in Putrajaya.

PUTRAJAYA: Outdated child labour laws will be amended in the next Parliament meeting, says the Human Resources Minister.

M. Kulasegaran said the laws were outdated and overdue for amendments.

“It should have been done years ago. We are in the process of amending and upgrading and making most relevant what is required,” he told reporters after launching the World Day Against Child Labour 2018 event here yesterday.

Kulasegaran said his ministry was looking at amending at least nine pieces of legislation covering a wide range of employment issues.

“We are in the final stages of proposing amendments to the Employment Act and Industrial Relations Act and hope to push it through this coming Parliament meeting,” he said.

Kulasegaran disclosed that his ministry had begun gathering feedback from stakeholders on proposed amendments to the Children and Young Persons (Employment) Act, which could be tabled this year.

On the issue of forced child labour, Kulasegaran said this was not prevalent in Malaysia as there were abundant employment opportunities and foreign labour.

He said five cases were reported between 2016 and 2018 with offenders in two cases punished with RM2,000 fines.

Kulasegaran added that only one case of child trafficking was reported last year with the offender slapped with a RM6,000 fine.

Although incidences of forced child labour were not many, he said the government would further amend laws against it in line with the International Labour Orga­nisation (ILO) Convention.

Parliament will convene for 24 days between Oct 15 and Nov 24.

Among the other laws under review are the Occupational Safety and Health Act, Sabah Labour Ordi­nance, Sarawak Labour Ordi­nance, Trade Unions Act, Minimum Standard of Housing and Amenities Act, Private Recruitment Agencies Act and Employees’ Social Security Act.