Many govt contractors not paying minimum wage - groups
The Network of Government Contract Workers (JPKK) and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) today urged the Human Resources Ministry to take action against employers who violate the new RM1,500 minimum wage ruling, especially those who received government contracts.
JPKK coordinator Sivaranjani Manickam told Malaysiakini that most of the complaints they received were from dissatisfied workers employed by companies which were awarded government contracts.
The Network of Government Contract Workers (JPKK) and Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) today urged the Human Resources Ministry to take action against employers who violated the new RM1,500 minimum wage ruling, especially those who received government contracts.
JPKK coordinator Sivaranjani Manickam told Malaysiakini that most of the complaints they received were from dissatisfied workers employed by companies awarded government contracts.
Earlier, the two groups handed a memorandum to the Human Resources Ministry and a list of 127 companies that were alleged to not have implemented the new minimum wage policy.
The memorandum was received by the Peninsular Malaysia Human Resources Department (JTKSM) deputy director (operations) Mohd Asri Abdul Wahab, who also discussed the issue with them in a brief meeting that lasted about half an hour.
“Those who got cleaning or security contracts for government buildings, they are the ones who are not implementing (the new minimum wage) and their reason is that the government hasn’t amended their tender… so they can’t implement the minimum wage now and the workers have to wait until they get to claim from the government.
“Is there such a thing? I asked Asri whether the ministry offered such flexibility to their own contractors and he said no.
“He stressed that May 1 was the (start of) implementation and everyone must implement it and of course (the contractors) can make a claim later. This is what he said.
“But I told Asri, this is not the reality out there,” she said.
In the memorandum, JPKK and PSM urged the government to take firm action against the companies.
Sivaranjani said their memorandum also mentioned workers were reluctant to report their employers’ wrongdoings to JTKSM out of fear of losing their jobs.
She later said that Asri had assured them that the workers’ names will not be revealed to their employers should they choose to lodge a report with JTKSM.
On that note, Sivaranjani proposed several steps the ministry could take to tackle this issue.
Firstly, they urged the government to send a strong message to all their contractors to implement the RM1,500 minimum wage without delay.
“In case the government gets any complaint against these government contractors, their contract should be immediately terminated. This will prompt them to take this matter seriously,” Sivaranjani said.
Secondly, she said the Human Resources Ministry and the JTKSM should be more proactive in advocating for workers and giving them confidence in the process of lodging complaints against their employers.
The Human Resources Ministry, Sivaranajani added, should emulate the Health Ministry which held almost daily press conferences on Covid-19 statistics at the start of the pandemic and provide regular updates on their latest moves to serve as a warning to other companies.
“The ministry must be at the forefront. There are lots of reforms they are bringing from Sept 1, so they must provide monthly updates on their monitoring and which companies they took action against.
“So when they give constant updates, people will get confidence and other companies will also be more aware,” she said.
Another proposal from them is for the ministry to form a special task force that includes relevant NGOs and PSM so that they can help monitor the implementation of the minimum wage.
“The government always tells us they lack enforcement officers. In that case, why not just form a special task force by including some of the NGOs and even PSM to monitor this?
“We can help to do the monitoring work for you and provide information so your (the government’s) work is just to take action,” Sivaranjani said.
She then said they will check with the ministry on the progress of their recommendations in a month’s time.
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