Change in law could hike up costs

I REFER to the report “Bid to curb minister’s clout” (The Star, June 15).

I believe the newly minted Human Resources Minister’s proposal to revoke his powers over reference and screening of workers’ dismissal cases is definitely a step backward and would consequently increase the cost of doing business.

The minister is empowered and mandated by the Industrial Relations Act 1967 to study the cases that the Industrial Relations Department (IRD) cannot resolve via mediation and reconciliation before referring them to the Industrial Court (IC). There are good reasons for this.

There must be prima facie before any case is referred to the IC, which is already over burdened.

Secondly, if the minister refers all cases to the IC without prior screening, then employers would have to fork out between RM30,000 and RM50,000 in legal fees even when there is no case to answer.

Thirdly, employees do not need to incur any expenses for going to the IC because the trade union represents them on pro bono basis. However, the scenario is different for employers and would mean unnecessary additional costs and expenses for the companies, which eventually means higher cost of doing business in Malaysia.

As it is, we are already facing a hike in minimum wage, the effects of the Employment Insurance Scheme and, beginning January the payment of foreign workers levy by employers, which has resulted in more billions of ringgit being repatriated.

There is a backlog of cases at the ministry because the officers are mainly inexperienced, incompetent or inefficient. Everyone has to do their job conscientiously and the minister (even if he is not a lawyer by profession) has a legal advisor from the Attorney General’s Chamber (AGC) assigned to him.

We must remind the new Government of their promise to consult all stakeholders, make decisions based on consensus and to be business friendly.

I fervently hope and pray that the minister understands that he is not a minister of workers but of human resources, which encompass employers and various other stakeholders.

I also pray that the new Attorney General will take note and reject this impending proposal to amend the IR Act 1967 as it would be referred to the AGC prior to being presented to the Cabinet and Parliament.

HAJI ROSLAN HAJI SHARIF

Kuantan