Foreign Worker: Extension For PLKS Holders With 10 Years Employment

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 12 (Bernama) – Foreign workers who are holding temporary foreign worker permit (PLKS) and have been employed for 10 years can extend their employment duration for a maximum of three years. Human Resource Minister M. Kulasegaran said the employment extension for foreign workers with PLKS would be implemented from Oct 1. “Approval for the extension is only limited to a maximum of three years and they have to be renewed annually,” he said in a statement Wednesday. He said the government had on Aug 29 (2018) agreed to relax the conditions to extend the PLKS in formal sectors such as manufacturing, construction, plantation, services, agriculture as well as mining and quarries but not including frozen sectors and outsourcing companies. “This is to enable employers retain skilled foreign workers,” he said. Kulasegaran stressed that such foreign workers are not eligible to apply for Entry Permit or Permanent Residence and Malaysian citizenship. He said the employer would have to pay a levy of RM10,000 a year for each foreign worker. According to him, the collection of foreign worker levy has been introduced by the Malaysian government since 1992 and it used to be fully borne by the foreign worker. On March 25 2016, the Cabinet agreed that foreign worker levy would be borne by the employer effective Jan 1 2018. -- BERNAMA