9 Sri Lankans lodge report against employer for failing to pay salaries

(Editor's note: The story has been updated to include the response from a representative of the employer.)

Nine Sri Lankan nationals who worked as cleaners for a popular cinema chain in Penang and Kuala Lumpur have filed a police report after their employer allegedly failed to pay their salaries for the past six months.

They filed a report at USJ 8 police station today, accompanied by Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan and several party members.

In a police report sighted by Malaysiakini, the victims said they came to Malaysia in April 2019 using legal permits under a third party company and have been working at the cinema since May 2019.

Eight of them were stationed in Penang while one was based in Kuala Lumpur. They were promised a salary of RM1,660 a month and provided a hostel.

"Since March 18 and throughout the movement control order, all workers were not paid a salary. When we asked for our salaries, the employer chased us out from the hostel on July 1.

"The employer also refused to return our passports," the report reads.

The victims also mentioned that the Sri Lankan High Commission had advised them to file the report and complaint to the Labour Department.

Arutchelvan said PSM would bring them to the Labour Department to file a complaint today.

"They were unlawfully terminated from their job during the Covid-19 outbreak, and the High Commission couldn't get the victims' passports from their employer.

"They want their pending salaries, passports and flight tickets to go home," he said.

The victims, in the report, also said they had taken the Covid-19 test on June 25 and tested negative.

Meanwhile, a representative of the company claimed that the workers weren’t kicked out but instead had fled their hostel.

"Our service was suspended by the cinema company because it had to close due to the MCO. So, there was no job.

"Before the cinema was allowed to reopen in July, we had renewed their permits as they wanted to continue working. We renewed some in April, while the other in May.

"When they agreed to continue working, and the cinema had reinstated our services, the workers had to undergo the Covid-19 test.

"So, we arranged and paid for the test. After they had done the test, they informed our translator that they didn't want to work because they were afraid of contracting Covid-19.

"When my colleague went to Penang to discuss with them, they had disappeared," she said.

The representative said eight workers had ran away in July and another worker followed suit in the same month.

Malaysiakini has sighted the police reports lodged against the workers that were filed on July 3 and July 17.

She added that during the MCO, the company had also provided them with a weekly food allowance and hostel.

She said the workers later came accompanied by officers from the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to ask for their six-month salaries.

"They were asking for six-month salaries, which is unreasonable since they fled.

"We told them we had filed police reports. So, in the eyes of the law, their permits were cancelled.

"We could only give if the High Commissioner obtained the approval from the Immigration.

"What if they abuse their permit and work somewhere else?"

She said the company had also given its full cooperation to the labour department.

"We left it to them to investigate and we filed another police report to counter the workers' report against us," she said.

Malaysiakini had sighted the report, which was filed on Sept 8.

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