The Malaysian Insight

NEPALI workers coming to Malaysia may get a better deal now with a new government-to-government arrangement that cuts out middlemen, but small and medium enterprises (SMEs) here are upset at not being consulted.

Malaysia SME association president Michael Kang said the bilateral agreement did not consider the situation of SMEs, which depend heavily on migrant labour and will now have to bear the cost of expenses incurred by Nepalis in Nepal, including visa paperwork, airfare and medical checks.

Kang told The Malaysian Insight that the contents of the agreement have not been fully revealed after Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran’s announcement and that requiring SMEs to bear all expenses is unfair.

But according to a report in the Kathmandu Post, it will cost a Malaysian employer at least RM3,000 per worker, which must be paid in advance, making it practically “free” for a Nepali to work in Malaysia.

“Why didn’t the ministry discuss with employers before making such unreasonable decisions? There should at least be communication before such decisions are made. The hiring costs have not been stated and they could be in the thousands.

“Since the agreement is between two countries, then the costs incurred by the workers in Nepal should be borne by their government instead,” he said.

Kang urged the Human Resources Ministry to reveal the contents of the agreement, including costs, so employers can at least estimate the costs of hiring Nepali workers.

The bilateral agreement came about after Nepal stopped its citizens from working in Malaysia in July, due to overly restrictive regulations and high costs, including a monopoly for security clearance and biomedical testing by a private company.

At the same time, Nepali press reported of alleged corruption involving the recruitment of labourers that saw thousands of workers fleeced of their money, claims which the Malaysian company involved has denied.

Subsequently, Nepal and Malaysia worked out a deal, and Kulasegaran announced the bilateral agreement at Parliament. The arrangement allowed entry to Nepali workers, including domestic helpers.

Kang said the new agreement was a departure from the usual practice to have workers bear the training costs and fees, while Malaysian employers were responsible only for airfare and accommodation and other costs to be deducted from their salaries.

He said even though Putrajaya had eliminated the use of middlemen in worker recruitment, the same cannot be said for Malaysians seeking manpower.

“Employers still need to go through Nepali agencies to look for suitable foreign workers, or go to Nepal for interviews, hand the list of workers to the embassy for approval, arrange medical and safety examinations, then only arrange for their arrival to Malaysia.”

However, he said, the SMEs generally welcome the elimination of middlemen to curb corruption.

“The previous government required employers to apply for workers at 10 selected agencies, with high application fees for each worker.”

When asked, Kulasegaran told The Malaysian Insight in a short message that, “The agreement is in line with the International Labour Organisation.”

“These standards have been developed and implemented in many countries.”

According to statistics from the Human Resources Ministry, there are 1.89 million legal foreign workers in Malaysia, with 358,211 Nepali workers among them.

Of this, 26,752 work in the manufacturing sector, followed by services (75,695), plantation (23,111), farming (10,296) and construction (8,300). – November 8, 2018.