PETALING JAYA: Employers say certain flaws in the Labour Recalibration Programme 2.0 (RTK 2.0) had led to a low number of illegal foreign workers being verified as legal workers and urge the government for an extension from the March 31 deadline to June 30.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), meanwhile, say they faced difficulties housing their workers while they were being verified by the immigration department.
Federation of Malaysian Business Associations (FMBA) chairman Datuk Abdul Malik Abdulla said there are technical glitches in the system.
“Those who entered in 2023 are not eligible to register but the registration system still accepts when they register. That is why the numbers look big. However, when they go to the counter, these applications are rejected.
“Some were hoping that even though they were ineligible, the government might just make a U-turn on those who entered in 2023,” said Abdul Malik.
He added that despite registering, the immigration department took a long time to call the foreign workers to come and provide their thumbprints.
“Some wait from six months to a year. That is a long time,” said Abdul Malik.
“We had proposed to the government to let us (employers) pay for the passage home of illegal foreign workers in the detention centres, provided we get to hire the same number of foreign workers legally.
“This way, the government can save in expenses in having to bear the cost of taking care of the workers in detention centres and get revenue from levy paid by new foreign workers.
“Also, during RTK 2.0, the illegal workers were told they would not suffer any consequences should they surrender voluntarily and return to their native countries.
“However, very few took up the offer as we are made to understand their passports will be stamped with the red ink barring them from re-entering Malaysia for five years,” said Abdul Malik.
“This red stamp is a forever-blemish in their passports making them not being able to enter any other country. Who would want that?”
SME Association of Malaysia president Ding Hong Sing said the majority of SMEs were unable to meet the requirements for hiring legal foreign workers.
The main hurdle lies in their inability to provide dormitories for these workers, leading some to take the risk of hiring undocumented workers.
“I proposed that during the registration process for illegal foreign workers, SMEs should be exempted from the requirement to provide workers dormitories,” said Ding.
He urged the government to introduce online registration for legal foreign workers to streamline and simplify the process, making it more user-friendly for employers.
Ding also expressed concerns about the government’s inadequate promotion of RTK2.0, leading to many SMEs being unaware of it.
The Malay Businessmen and Industrialist Association of Malaysia (Perdasama) urged the government to extend the verification period for illegal foreign workers to June 30.
Perdasama president Mohd Azamanizam Baharon said that it is vital for the government and employers to work together to overcome the hurdles in the verification process to ensure RTK 2.0 is a success.
“Though the Home Ministry had set up the One-Stop-Centre for the management of foreign workers, there were still challenges to the documentation process in verifying foreign workers as it requires much time with employers having to collect and hand over various documents and information for each foreign worker,” said Mohd Azamanizam.
“There are also times when we faced communication challenges with the authorities with regards to the verification exercise and this led to further delay in our preparation of the needed documents,” said Azamanizam.
“We urge the authorities to further extend the period of verification until June 30.”
Meanwhile, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai urged the government to halt further implementation of legalisation programmes and concentrate on bolstering the management of foreign workers in the country while intensifying enforcement against illegal foreign workers.
FMM urged a reconsideration of the recent policy decision to shorten the quota validity period, allowing only a one-month notice for employers with active quota balances to settle calling visas and a mere three months to mobilise workers by May 31, 2024.
FMM has put forth a request for an extension of the timeline by six months, until September 2024, to facilitate employers in acquiring Calling Visa/Visas with Reference and arranging for the entry of workers.
“This extension would grant employers with genuine worker needs ample time to mobilise new workers under their active quota balances,” said Soh.
“Furthermore, the government must assess the actual need of workers and consider new foreign worker quota applications on a need basis, rather than imposing a complete halt on foreign worker entry into the country.”
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024/03/21/employers-point-out-rtk-20-flaws