Over 270 employers penalised for labour rights violations since Jan 1

PUTRAJAYA: For failing to protect the welfare and rights of their workers, 272 employers have been slapped with compounds worth RM2.17mil by the Human Resources Ministry since Jan 1. Its minister V. Sivakumar said 1,321 investigation papers were also opened against 645 employers found committing acts in breach of laws enforced by the Labour Department, with some cases even having elements of forced labour.

“The employers were found involved in matters such as unlawful deduction of wages, failure to provide contracts and payslips, failure to take several allowances into account when calculating overtime, failure to obtain Certificate of Accommodation and failure to pay minimum wages.

“Enforcement action was carried out not to penalise the employers but to teach them a lesson... not to violate the rights of their employees,” he told a press conference at a hotel here on Thursday (Sept 14).

From Jan 1 to date, Sivakumar said 128 employers had also been charged in court for various offences and faced a total of RM242,000 in penalties.

He said the forced labour situation in the country was under control with a number of measures in place to curb such practices.

“Statistics show that up to 23 million people are involved in forced labour globally. The Asia Pacific region holds the highest ratio in which four out of 1,000 people are victims of forced labour and countries are playing their role in tackling the matter.

“Malaysia has ratified the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Forced Labour Convention No 29 which defines forced labour as ‘all work or services... exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.’

“(Malaysia aims) to achieve zero forced labour cases by 2030,” he said.

Earlier, Sivakumar launched the ministry’s Guidelines to Prevent and Combat Forced Labour Practices at the Workplace for employees to know their rights.

He said 11 indicators of forced labour identified by the ILO include: abuse of vulnerable groups; deception; restriction of movement; isolation; physical and sexual violence; intimidation and threats; retention of identification documents; withholding of wages; debt bondage; abusive working and living conditions; and excessive overtime.

“We have existing guidelines on forced labour but this (latest) version is to (inform) everyone, especially employers and employees.

“We notice that in forced labour cases, the reason given by the employers is that they were not aware of the law, while the workers did not know how the law could protect their rights.

“So it is hoped the new guidelines will benefit both sides and (help them) understand and acknowledge the laws on forced labour,” he said.