PUTRAJAYA must not entertain any excuse from errant employers who fail to address their workers’ housing needs as the three-month grace period to comply with the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 ends today, said a union.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress secretary-general J. Solomon said employers have been given enough time to fulfil the requirements.

“The Human Resources Ministry must not allow employers to cite financial drawbacks due to Covid-19 as reason to delay the enforcement of the laws,” he said.

“Rightfully, the relevant authorities, especially the Human Resources Ministry should swiftly enforce the new law that addresses the living conditions of migrant workers from tomorrow, September 1, as employers have been given adequate time to comply.”

Employers had more than a year to prepare since the bill was passed in July 2019.

In May, Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan said employers have a three-month grace period to address their workers’ housing needs before the act comes into effect on September 1.

“Since the laws were passed last year, MTUC has not seen any significant move by employers to address the poor living conditions of workers, especially migrants who continue to live in cramped and squalid conditions either at their work sites or rented apartments and terrace houses,” he said.

Despite repeated warnings by director-general of health Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah that such living conditions are conducive for Covid-19 transmission, employers are still forcing their workers to live in such spaces.

“We find employers forcing as many as 15 to 20 workers to share three-room apartments or terrace houses of less than 1,000 sq ft with one or two washrooms. The situation in many kongsi are even worse.”

This only goes to show that many employers have taken the issue of accommodation lightly despite the risk of turning into a Covid-19 cluster like those reported at construction sites, he said.

Solomon said the pathetic living conditions of migrant workers in Malaysia even before the onset of Covid-19 are a clear violation of the International Labour Organisation conventions.  

The poor standard of accommodation is one of the 11 indicators of forced labour defined by the ILO, he added.

Neither employers nor the government should not take lightly the issue of living conditions for foreign workers as many countries use the ILO indicators as a benchmark in their international trade dealings, which may have dire consequences for errant Malaysian entrepreneurs who fail to provide decent housing for their workers, he said.

Solomon cited the import restriction imposed by the US customs and border protection on Top Glove Corp Bhd and WRP Asia Pacific on suspicion of forced labour as examples. – August 31, 2020.