PETALING JAYA: The newly-launched “Guidelines to Prevent and Eradicate Forced Labour Practices at the Workplace” must be followed by action and enforcement to curb this “modern-day slavery”, say rights groups.
Government Contract Workers’ Network national secretary M. Sivaranjani said there were many systemic issues contributing to the creation of forced labour conditions directly and indirectly, involving both local and foreign workers.
“There are so many issues that need to be addressed to curb forced labour. Without handling the issue holistically, a book of guidelines would not be enough to solve the problem,” she said when contacted yesterday.
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Sivaranjani said these include addressing the forced labour conditions faced by vulnerable groups such as government contract workers, migrants and refugees; having a practical enforcement plan; and investing in more labour enforcement officers.
Many elements of forced labour are present even among workers working on government premises, she said.
For example, she said private companies that were awarded government contracts to provide school cleaners and hospital security guards have been flouting the law by not paying their employees the RM1,500 minimum wage and forcing them to do excessive overtime.
Laws such as the Employment Act do not provide adequate protection for such workers, who face risks such as not having their contracts renewed when they complain to their employers, she said, adding that employers are also accorded more privileges and leverage under the current system.
Sivaranjani also said stopping forced labour would be difficult without government intervention to protect undocumented migrant workers and refugees, who are from the two most vulnerable groups.
“Malaysia is one of the biggest host countries for migrants and refugees, but most of the time, they are victims of forced labour and face problems such as withheld pay and poor working conditions. If the government is not allowing the most vulnerable groups, which are the undocumented migrants and refugees, to even file labour suits, then how are they going to catch these employers guilty of forced labour?” she said.
Sivaranjani added that there was a need for the government to invest in more labour enforcement officers as there was not enough of them to address workers’ complaints.
North-South Initiative (NSI) executive director Adrian Pereira said corruption and a lack of political will were among the factors preventing the issue of forced labour from being resolved.
He said that coming up with guidelines and amending the Employment Act was “barely enough” to prevent forced labour.
Section 90B, which stipulates that forced labour is an offence with a punishment of a fine not exceeding RM100,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or both, was inserted into the Employment Act in 2022.
“We are very good in producing reports and paperwork and all kinds of material, but this has not translated into the prevention of forced labour.
“One of the reasons is there is no real comprehensive law that ties up all the different laws, regulations and enforcement under one umbrella to ensure it is activated to protect migrant workers.
“We still have employers committing offences such as keeping employees’ passports, abusing them and enforcement officers who are unable to weed out forced labour,” he said.
Adrian added there is a need to look for more creative solutions as what has been proposed now is not working fast enough.
Tenaganita executive director Glorene Das said the guidelines must be put into action that could be translated into reducing the forced labour situation in Malaysia, as the country aims to eliminate forced labour by 2030.
“It must be translated into actions and the actions need to be coordinated among us so we can do something effectively by 2030 to at least decrease some percentage of the forced labour situation in Malaysia,” she said.
Glorene said there was a need to look into strengthening enforcement, the right interpretation and implementation of the guidelines and amended laws, as well as the policies surrounding tackling and combating forced labour in the different industries in Malaysia.
“That’s what we have to look into while working with the stakeholders, be it from the industry, enforcement agencies, government or civil society organisations,” she said.
