Labour rights activists have condemned the government’s latest postponement of a move requiring employers to fully absorb costs for their foreign workers' levy.

Kuala Langat MP Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid claimed the move only confirmed Malaysia’s status as a country that practises “modern day human trading”.

“Why is the government bowing to demands from employers?

“Why the delay? Now it is confirmed we are a country that practices human trading, a modern ‘indentured labour’ system,” he said when contacted.

“The employers are demanding for foreign labour, so they must be made to pay (the levy). Why is the government afraid?,” questioned Abdullah Sani who is former Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) acting president.

He also claimed that employers were against the move introduced as part of the Employers Mandatory Commitment (EMC) plan, as it would prevent them from “abandoning” the workers in case of any troubles.

“Since they (employers) have paid for the workers’ (levies), they cannot just simply decide to ‘close shop’ or neglect the workers,” he pointed out.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia central committee member Rani Rasiah, meanwhile, told Malaysiakini that it should be made illegal for employers to deduct the levy payment from their workers’ wages.

“How can the government compromise on what should rightfully belong to workers?

“It is really sad that they (the government) have reversed the decision again. This time we had hoped that they would have gone through with the plan,” she said when contacted.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had on Dec 31 announced that employers would from the beginning of the new year, be disallowed from deducting levy costs from the wages of their workers.

This was a reversal of a policy which was reportedly passed by the Cabinet on Jan 30, 2013.

He had also said the EMC was proposed to ensure that employers were fully responsible for their workers, from the time of their appointment to the time they returned to their countries.

In response to Zahid, the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) had urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to intervene, while the Malaysian Iron and Steel Industry Federation (MISIF) called upon the government to review and rescind the decision.

The Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) also claimed that it was “unfair and illogical” for employers to pay the levy for their foreign workers.

Commenting further, Rani said the government should instead focus on helping businesses to cut down other related costs paid to third-party agencies, by pursuing government-to-government recruitment agreements.

“Studies have shown that recruitment via a government-to-government deal can significantly cut down the cost to hire a foreign worker,” she added.

‘Local workers risk losing more jobs’

DAP’s labour bureau chief A Sivanesan meanwhile, said it was revealed in parliament that 76,000 Malaysian workers had lost their jobs for various reasons between January 2015 and October last year.

From the figure, the Sungkai assemblyperson said 32,000 cases were from January to October last year.

“Most of these cases were due to companies winding up their business or cutting costs,” he said, pointing out that local workers are also unlikely to take the place of foreign labourers in various sectors that are facing shortages.

Sivanesan, who is also a labour lawyer by profession, said that the move should have been discussed and decided by the National Labour Advisory Council - a tripartite body with representatives from the MTUC, MEF and the government.

“This is to avoid future ‘flip-flops’ at the policy-making level,” he added.

In February last year, Zahid who is also Home Minister, had announced that the government's plans to impose higher levy charges for foreign workers would be postponed, following a similar outcry from employers.

It was later revealed that the levy for foreign workers who fall under category one – manufacturing, construction and service sectors – had been raised to RM1,850, from the initial proposal of RM2,500.

The levy for workers in the plantation and agriculture sectors, meanwhile, was raised to RM640 from the initial proposal of RM1,500.

This was an increase from the original levy rate set at RM1,250 for category one workers, RM410 for workers in the plantation sector and RM590 for workers in the agricultural sector.