PUTRAJAYA: To address the severe shortage in manpower that is hampering the economic recovery, the government is now giving some flexibility to employers when it comes to hiring foreign workers.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said applications to hire foreign workers from 15 countries will be approved within three days and this will fall under the new Relaxation of Foreign Workers Recruitment Plan.
“Under this plan, employers will be allowed to hire workers from 15 countries based on current needs and abilities ... without having to go through hiring prerequisites and qualification quotas,” he said.
He added that Section 60(K) of the Employment Act will be applied to this special plan, where employers must comply with requirements such as minimum wage, among others.
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“But employers have to file their applications and we will give immediate approvals within three days under this plan,” he said.
The 15 countries are India, Laos, Thailand, Indonesia Cambodia, Nepal, Myanmar, Vietnam, Turkmenistan, Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.
Saifuddin Nasution said details of the plan will be announced by the Home Ministry soon.
“This isn’t a permanent solution ... instead, it is temporary because of the unprecedented needs now,” he told a press conference after a special meeting on the management of foreign workers in Perdana Putra chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim here yesterday.
Also present was Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar.
Anwar, however, did not attend the press conference.
According to Saifuddin Nasution, the meeting agreed to send a government delegation to the 15 countries to hold further discussions with the relevant authorities there.
“We will inform these source countries of this policy so that they will understand we are aspiring to facilitate this matter.”
He said the approvals will not affect local jobseekers as they will be focused on the “3D” sector (dirty, dangerous, and demeaning jobs).
He added that a GDP (gross domestic product) growth of 1% is expected if the hiring of foreign workers can be expedited for the relevant sectors.
Saifuddin Nasution also said the recalibration programme for foreign workers, which initially expired on Dec 31 last year, will be extended until the end of this year.
He added that the programme registered more than 418,000 workers last year.
Under the recalibration programme, employers who hired foreign workers without proper documentation can pay a fee to “legalise” their workers.
According to Saifuddin Nasution, the recalibration programme contributed more than RM700mil to government coffers.
He added that the extension is effective immediately and also includes foreign domestic workers or maids in Malaysia.
“(For) maids who are still employed and overstayed (their visa), their employers would need to pay the compound and then we will extend their working permit.”
He said unregistered foreign workers who wish to return to their home country can do so, and they just have to pay a compound.
There are two parts to the recalibration programme – Labour and Repatriation.
The “Labour” recalibration programme was implemented to allow employers in certain sectors such as construction, manufacturing, plantation, agriculture and services to legally employ undocumented foreign workers.
The “Repatriation” recalibration programme is where undocumented immigrants could volunteer to return to their homeland.
