Errant employers to be charged soon if they still hire illegal workers

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M Kulasegaran

PUTRAJAYA: Employers will be charged soon if they continue to violate the laws in hiring illegal foreign workers, said Human Resource Minister M Kulasegaran.

He  said the ministry was working closely with Home Ministry to go after these stubborn employers and enforce it strictly against them across the country.

“You have seen 72 hours ago, (Home Minister) Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin get down somewhere in Petaling Street. You know how serious it is and we mean business.

“You will soon hear many employers will be charged for violating offences,” he told reporters when met at his office here yesterday.

On May 31, Muhyiddin was quoted as saying the rehiring programme for illegal workers would  be phased out by June 30.

Implemented from Feb 16, 2016, the rehiring programme serves as an avenue to provide illegal foreign workers valid working permits to fulfil labour requirement for certain sectors, including manufacturing, construction, plantation, agriculture and services.

Stressing that the ministry’s priorities were to focus on zero corruption and meticulous enforcement, Kulasegaran said it would follow the law and enforce it strictly against everyone in this country.

“If you have a good enforcement, then no one will complaint. I have told my ministry to give me reports weekly on this matter.”

On another note, Kulasegaran said the government would encourage more taxi drivers to contribute to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) fund in view of their high exposure to accidents.

“Sadly, we have about 90,000 taxi drivers in the country but only 3,787 contributing. We want to increase this number so that they are covered in cases of injuries,” he said. — Bernama