Govt to charge employers for not sending foreign workers for Covid tests
This is according to Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who said the National Security Council decided to enforce the mandatory Covid-19 screening for migrant workers from Jan 1, 2021...
UPDATED 6.43PM | COVID-19 | Employers who fail to comply with the mandatory Covid-19 screening for their foreign workers will be fined or charged in court, beginning next year.
This is according to Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who said the National Security Council decided to enforce the mandatory Covid-19 screening for migrant workers from Jan 1, 2021.
This comes as the government is not happy that only 1,990 employers sent a total of 42,248 migrant workers for Covid-19 test in one month since the mandatory screening order came into effect.
"The Human Resources Ministry informed that there are still many employers who refused to comply with the instruction. As such, the special meeting yesterday agreed to enforce the directive, starting Jan 1, 2021, under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988," Ismail said.
He said legal action would be taken against the stubborn employers and they also risked being fined or being brought to court.
The government initially only made it compulsory for the migrant construction workers and those working as security personnel to undergo Covid-19 test.
However, following a sharp surge of Covid clusters involving migrant workers and immigrants, the mandatory Covid-19 test was expanded to migrant workers from all sectors.
There are currently 1.7 million migrant workers in the country.
The first phase ofthe Covid-19 screening was carried out in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Labuan and Negri Sembilan from Dec 1.
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