Can be fined up to RM50,000; quota approval will also be revoked
Employers across Malaysia are being warned with fines and quota approval revocations if they are found guilty of replacing local workers with foreigners.
The warning came as the government implemented in January the Foreign Worker Employment Relaxation Plan (FWERP) to address the immediate manpower shortages faced by businesses from critical sectors.
Employers should not abuse the plan and use it to replace local hires, according to Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar.
"Employers who are found to have acted in such a way have violated Section 60M of the Employment Act 1955 and can be fined up to RM50,000 if found guilty. The quota approval for hiring foreign workers will also be revoked," the minister said as quoted by Bernama.
The government issued a similar warning in February, when Sivakumar said they would not accept any excuses if they discovered that local hires were being replaced with foreigners.
The minister stressed that employers are required to prioritise local applicants to every job vacancy available to them, Bernama reported.
FWERP will be implemented until March 31 to speed up the approval foreign worker applications in five sectors, including plantation, manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and services (restaurants).
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102 replaced workers reinstated
The news came as the government recently reinstated the employment of 102 employees who were terminated and replaced by foreigners in Penang, according to Sivakumar.
"The company involved will reinstate the workers who were dismissed," Sivakumar said as quoted by Bernama.
In another incident, 117 workers from Bangladesh who entered the country through FWERP were not granted jobs by the employers who lodged their applications.
Sivakumar warned employers against such practices, stressing that it would "tarnish the image of the country's laws."
"The act of a small group of irresponsible employers has tarnished the image and credibility of the country and it has made it difficult to negotiate with the source country on the needs of foreign workers," Sivakumar said.
The workers have been relocated to a safe location, according to the report, with the ministry to offer them assistance should other employers hire them.