Businesses looking forward to new rules

PETALING JAYA: The move to smoothen the import of foreign labour will address worker shortage issues, say industry players.

Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KLSICCI) president Nivas Ragavan lauded the move as it would meet the needs of the industry.

He said businesses that need foreign labour are looking forward to the implementation of the new rules as it would help in rebuilding the economy.

However, he also said the government should also consider including other subsectors such as hospitality, textiles and hairdressing, among others.

“These subsectors should also be able to enjoy the relaxed rules. Because they are some of the main players that are supporting the growth of the economy.

“We also urge the government to extend the implementation for more than six months to have more businesses benefit from it,” Nivas said.

Yesterday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said employers who successfully bring in foreign workers under the new recruitment and quota policy would have six months to comply with pre-conditions.

These include adherence to labour laws, qualifying for the foreign worker hiring quota under the Human Resources Ministry and paying minimum wage.

National Association of Human Resources Malaysia (Pusma) president Zarina Ismail said employers must not take the relaxation for granted.

She said some concerns that might arise would be employers taking advantage of the grace period and applying for more workers than they require.

“Some companies purposely recruit a lot of foreign workers to ‘sell’ the approvals to other employers.

“These foreign workers may eventually end up stranded in Malaysia jobless, which would impact our image,” she told The Star.

She said the government must be able to act swiftly if the issues arise during the implementation of the new rules.

“Employers should only hire foreign workers according to their needs so that they can take care of their own welfare,” she said.

Zarina also said that while the move is timely to address the labour shortage, the government should also look into a long-term solution.She said the authorities must come up with an integrated system with all relevant agencies under it to streamline the foreign worker recruitment processes.

“It is good that the government is taking a proactive approach to address the (labour) shortage.

“However, I believe that they should also start exploring an integrated system instead of introducing new systems one after another,” she said, adding that an integrated system would help the government to save money while streamlining the processes.