ILLEGAL LEVY DEDUCTION SHOULD STOP, SAYS LABOUR DG

PETALING JAYA (Malaysia), Oct 26 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Trades Union
Congress (MTUC) Sunday called on the Labour Department to prosecute employers
who continue to deduct levy from salaries of their foreign workers.

According to MTUC vice-president, A. Balasubramaniam, hundreds of workers
have been "cheated " by errant employers who continue to deduct the levy from
their salaries although they have renewed their work permits after April 1, the
date from which the levy was to be entirely borne by employers.

Prior to this, employers were allowed to pay the levy upfront and later make
monthly deductions from their workers' salaries.

Balasubramaniam said that last week, about 2,500 foreign workers at a glove
making factory in Klang staged a five hour "strike" in protest of the
management's deduction of the levy from their salaries.

Similar complaints were also received from various parts of the country, he
told Bernama.


Labour director general Ismail Abdul Rahim meanwhile said that his
department was continuing to be vigilant and was conducting checks on all
establishments to ensure that there were no illegal levy deductions.

He said that employers were allowed to continue making deductions for
workers who were employed prior to April 1, but this was only until the expiry
of the work permits.

For all renewals and new employees after April 1, the employers should pay
for the levy, he added.

He advised workers whose levy was still being deducted after the renewal of
their permits to report the matter to the labour office.

He said that the rationale of making the employer pay for the levy was to
discourage them from taking foreign workers.

The levy, paid annually, varies from sector to sector, with RM1,200
(US$1=RM3.38) per foreign worker for the manufacturing and construction sector,
RM1,800 for restaurant and RM360 for maids.

-- BERNAMA