The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers is of the view that the proposed Anti-Ali Baba law by the Government which is intended to act against Malaysians who illegally rent-out their business licenses to foreign workers should be fast tracked as this will be an effective method in preventing certain businessmen who abuse the system.
The proposed legislation should deter local businessmen from misusing the privileges given by the Government for locals to operate businesses as well as deter foreigners from running businesses illegally including those foreign workers who run away from their legal employers to run their own business. The association said it strongly urges the Government to fast track this legislation to curb the rising social ills arising from improper use of permits intended for local businessmen.
The problem currently being faced is due the previous policy of allowing outsource companies/agents to bring in foreign workers as outsourced workers and not as direct workers for industries. Many workers were brought in via this channel with the promise of employment only to be left in a lurch without any proper work secured for them and these workers eventually became illegals as they needed to earn a living to send money home as well as pay of their financial obligations undertaken in order to come here in the first place.
The other factor contributing to the influx of undocumented workers it said was due to weak enforcement which has allowed the undocumented workers to remain here for prolonged periods and eventually led to many running their own business which under the domestic laws is not allowed. Legal workers also abscond from their legal employers when lured with promises of higher wages and better working conditions.
FMM said enforcement on the parties involved and responsible in these activities must be beefed up and unfair to blame employers for worker abscondment as employers are under tremendous pressure to ensure that they adhere to strict labour practices.
The association it has constantly reminded employers that they must have all the necessary due diligence process in place to ensure that every step of the employment process is done with full transparency, governance and integrity. Ensuring that business operations are conducted with the utmost level of responsibility including in their labour management must be the top priority of all our industries. Any unhealthy business practice would have a damaging impact and jeopardise the competitiveness of our manufacturers in the global supply chain and significantly threaten and damage the company’s reputation, investor relations as well as concurrently tarnish the entire sector’s and country’s standing in the global arena.
FMM strongly believes that the collective steps towards addressing undocumented workers and implementation of the other labour reform initiatives including the multi-tier levy mechanism would be critical to the success of reducing dependency on foreign workers and towards moving to a high-income status nation.
