Sarawak gets tough on violaters of labour law

The Sarawak Labour Department has taken action against 47 companies for illegally employing non-Sarawakians.

Deputy Human Resources Minister Senator Datuk Maznah Mazlan said of the 11 firms charged in court, four were fined between RM1,000 and RM5,000 for each offence.

An offender faces up to a fine of RM10,000 or six months’ jail or both under the Sarawak Labour Ordinance.

“Another 29 cases are in the process of being prosecuted in court,’’ she told reporters after launching a Kuching Division Employment Fair and Skill Training programme for Bumiputra at Kuching Waterfront Saturday.

Maznah said another company was fined RM500 this year for late payment of wages to its workers. The department, she said, had also taken action against a private employment agency for illegally recruiting foreign labour.

Earlier at the ceremony, Maznah said only 37,000 workers nationwide had lost their jobs compared to over 300,000 during the last economic downturn.

The Sarawak Labour Department had helped 1,983 job seekers to get jobs this year as compared to 372 last year, she said, adding that over 4,100 jobs in both the private and public sectors were up for grabs at the two-day fair.

Maznah said the government’s job portal (www.jobsmalaysia.gov.my) was popular among job seekers.

She asked the department to make available job application forms for rural people who had no access to the Internet.

Saying that there were many job opportunities in the state, Maznah said Sarawakians need not have to work abroad like in Singapore.

Although wages overseas was higher, Malaysians still had to pay more for their living expenses, she said.