PETALING JAYA: Migrant workers brought in by licensed private employment agencies (APS) are protected and assured of employment, says industry group.
In a joint statement issued by the Association of Employment Agencies Malaysia (Papa), Malaysian National Association of Employment Agencies (Pikap) and National Human Resources Association of Malaysia (Pusma), they said foreign workers brought into the country via APS are assured of employment, protection, counselling services, and payment of air tickets.
"APS will look for jobs for them and are obliged to ensure the availability of jobs.
"APS will also step up in the event migrant workers face trouble with employers who do not comply with the Employment Act where migrant workers’ rights are exploited," it said on Thursday (Feb 12).
"These incidences include non-compliance with minimum wage, unpaid overtime in accordance with the Employment Act, unlawful salary deductions, overcrowded accommodation, unlawful termination and delayed or non-payment of salary."
"Malaysian employers are also required to sign a job order and get it attested at the respective embassies, with all terms and conditions clearly spelled out," they added.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri R. Ramanan had said on Feb 4 that the ministry is in the process of formulating a pathway to allow Malaysian employers to hire foreign workers directly, as part of efforts to eliminate third-party agents or middlemen from the recruitment process.
The proposed solution, he added, is expected to be ready later this year and aims to protect foreign workers, including from being charged exorbitant “agent fees” that can amount to tens of thousands of ringgit.
The three associations also said that many incidences where workers were cheated involved unlicensed foreign recruiting agents (FRA) who do not own recruiting licenses.
"Recruitment in source countries are basically conducted via multiple layers of unlicensed agents or sponsors.
"Migrant workers who live in remote areas were usually paid these sponsors in order to get jobs as most of them are denied access due to poor infrastructure," they said.
"Employers are encouraged to conduct physical interviews at the FRA premises.
"This will eradicate many post-arrival problems, as employers can evaluate the workers’ ability, directly explain the terms and conditions of employment and brief the migrant workers on the company background," they added.
The three organisations also said that issues related to exorbitant fees, exploitation, debt bondage and modern slavery were caused by FRAs, not local recruiting agents.
"There were the known facts that Bangladeshi workers were 'forced' to pay for exorbitant fee and we deem its as exploitation.
"Malaysian recruiting agents are paid by the foreign recruiting agent and the amount is decided by them," they said.
"In the case of Indonesia, some recruiting agents merely receive between RM200 and RM400 per head after doing all the lengthy work.
"As for the Nepali guards who were forced to pay up to RM10,000 to get a job, This happened due to direct hiring," they said.
"Many security guard companies prefer direct hiring so they can ask the foreign recruiting agent to defray their expenses in Malaysia such as levy, Foreign Workers Medical Examination Monitoring Agency (FOMEMA), medical insurance, uniform and training expenses in Malaysia," they added.
The three groups also urged Ramanan to clarify his remark on eliminating third-party agents or middlemen recruiters.
"We hope he could clarify if APSs licensed by the Labour Department are deemed to be a third party agents.
"If the answer is yes, then what is the role of Licence C under the APS Act which requires every APS to place a deposit of RM250,000 with the Labour Department?" they said, adding that local recruiters are being made scapegoats for the issues faced by foreign workers.
"We also want the minister to clarify what actually transpired and to ensure he has sufficient input to differentiate what has actually happened on the ground," they added.
