HR Minister wants doubling of foreign worker levy delayed

KUALA LUMPUR: Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said Wednesday that he would ask the Deputy Prime Minister to give employers a grace period before implementing the doubling of levy for foreign workers.

Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said he would make the request to Najib, who heads the Cabinet Committee on Foreign Labour, as he had gathered feedback on the matter from several restaurant operator association members.

“Many of them have been caught unawares, and they feel they should be given a grace period.

“I have been in discussions with my colleagues in the Cabinet, and I’ll bring those suggestions forward so that we can take those views into consideration,” he told the press after launching the Masterskill Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Research Centre in Cheras here Wednesday.

In the mini-budget earlier this month, Najib had announced that levy for foreign workers, except for those in the plantation, construction and domestic sectors, would have their levy doubled.

He added that on average, about 20,000 foreign workers, whose contracts had ended, have been sent back every month this year.

The majority of foreign workers in Malaysia are Indonesians.

On Tuesday, he has said that he would raise the matter in Cabinet, especially the impact on employers.

However, he had said, the proposal to increase the levy did not come from his ministry, adding that the government had no intention of disrupting or forcing the closure of employers' operations by hiking the levy.

"Instead, the move is to create more employment opportunities for locals. This is a serious effort by the government to reduce the country's dependence on foreign labour," he had said after opening a conference on the Malaysian Labour Law, here, Tuesday.

He said many employers had met him to voice their woes following the government's decision to raise the levy on foreign workers.

"When the government introduces a new measure or ruling, it is not meant to cause difficulties to any quarters but was done with good intentions.

"However, I will bring up the employers' grouse to the Cabinet for discussion," he said.

Recently, four national associations of restaurant owners urged the government to scrap the proposed levy increase to RM3,600 from RM1,800.

The four are the Indian Restaurant Owners Association, Malaysia Muslim Restaurant Owners Association, Chinese Restaurant Owners Association and Bumiputera Restaurant Owners Association.

Last Wednesday, many restaurant operators threatened to raise prices of their food, including roti canai and teh tarik, due to increased labour cost if the government decides to go ahead with the plan to raise the levy.

Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/25/nation/20090325113158&sec=nation