Get single agency to manage foreign worker employment process – group

The Malaysian Consortium of Mid-Tier Companies (MCMTC) stands together with the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) calling for a single agency to handle the entire foreign worker employment process to ensure clarity, transparency and greater efficiency.

MCMTC president Callum Chen said Malaysia has a small population and a lot of the industries are still labour-intensive and dependent on foreign labour.

“As of now, applying for and getting foreign manpower requires a lot of time, effort and costs to deal with multiple agencies such as the Human Resources Ministry, Home Ministry, Labour Department and for those in the manufacturing via the International Trade and Industry Ministry,” he said in a statement today.

In February, the management of foreign workers was handed over to the Human Resources Ministry.

The government had on Dec 21 announced that the One-Channel System (OCS) to recruit domestic workers (domestic helpers/maids) will come under the Human Resources Ministry, and the One-Stop Centre (OSC) for the recruitment of foreign workers is under Home Ministry.

Chen said the questions that come to mind with the announcement are why is there a necessity to have various ministries involved, with various document submissions.

Streamline the system

“Would there be an improvement in the system or more confusion? Can we not have one single ministry with a single online system that is transparent and easy to use?” he asked.

The Human Resources Ministry is the umbrella organisation overseeing the planning, management and development of Malaysia’s manpower resources, and the appropriate ministry to manage foreign workers’ recruitment and management as well, said the statement.

The Home Ministry controls the immigration affairs such as the issuance of work permits.

FMM recently called on the government to review the decision to split the role of foreign worker management between both ministries.

It said the entire processing of labour demand must be handled by Human Resources Ministry while Home Ministry should focus on security issues, issuance of the relevant visa and border control measures as done in other countries that have a similar dependence on foreign workers to complement the country’s manpower requirements.

- Bernama

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