BUKIT MERTAJAM: The waiver of up to 80% on the interest levied on employers’ late PERKESO contributions has encouraged 466 employers to settle their arrears last month, said Human Resources Minister Steven Sim (pic).
He said the incentive was among the main draws at the i Lindung U Mega Festival here, taking place until today.
“The first edition of the festival, held in Shah Alam last month, recorded contribution arrears of more than RM251,000 from 466 employers.
“The awareness shown by employers to settle arrears by seizing the opportunity offered by PERKESO (Social Security Organisation) was a win-win situation,” he said yesterday.
Sim said PERKESO saw 660 eligible employers during the Shah Alam leg that qualified for up to an 80% discount under the Late Contribution Benefit (FCLB).
“According to statistics, the total FCLB for all these employers was RM2.08mil, but after the discount, the amount due came to around RM416,000.
“So far, we have collected RM251,393.50 from 466 employers, and the rest are in the process of paying within the allocated period,” he said.
At the Penang leg of the festival, Sim said 12,568 visitors registered in the first two days, with the total number expected to exceed 30,000 by today.
“So far, 70 employers have come to appeal for a waiver on late contribution interest involving a total FCLB of RM205,185. From this, we will give an 80% reduction totalling RM164,000,” he said.
Sim also said 27 employers offered more than 2,000 job vacancies at the festival.
“They have hired 157 so far, and 63 passed the second interview,” he said.
It was reported that almost 500 investigation papers were opened against employers for breaches of labour laws as of Nov 1.
The most common offences were failures to make mandatory contributions to PERKESO or the Employees Provident Fund.
On a separate matter, when asked about United Nations’ human rights experts expressing concern over continued exploitation and deepening debt bondage among Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia, Sim said the country remained firm on labour standards.
“Malaysia does not compromise when it comes to cases of worker exploitation, whether involving locals or foreigners.
“We are firm about complaints, labour laws, salaries, housing and even passports.
“When it comes to these issues, I am confident my counterpart in the Home Ministry will have the same stance. If there is a report, we will take action,” he said.
