Employers Who Violate Act on Worker Housing Can Be Fined Up To RM50k

Companies and businesses that do not comply with the recent amendments to the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446) could face a maximum fine of RM50,000.

Scheduled for June 1, 2020, the enforcement of act 446 was delayed to Sept 1, 2020, to give employers ample time to make much-needed preparations. 

Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan stated that the amendments were passed in Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara in July 2019 before the recent global pandemic broke out.

The minister said that worker housing located either within or outside of construction sites must fulfil three main aspects:

• Safety
• Cleanliness
• Comfort

The worker housing must also provide enough space for the residents and must comply with rules and regulations.

Employers could be fined up to RM50k for failing to comply.

“Enforcement teams from the relevant departments such as Jabatan Tenaga Kerja (JTK) would conduct checks after Sept 1.

“The employers will be fined up to RM50,000 if they do not comply with the standard operating procedures (SOPs) under Act 446,” Saravanan said to reporters during a visit to a construction workers’ housing in Bangsar South.

The SOPs include:

1. Conducting cleanliness and disinfection exercises in common areas.
2. Providing facilities for washing and disinfecting hands
3. Avoiding group activities
4. Ensuring social distancing of at least one metre between workers

Before this, Act 446 only covered the sectors for mining and plantations larger than 8.09ha. The amendment has extended the act to cover the housing and worker housing in all sectors across Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan.

“This is so that we can align the affected sector as the reemployment process is currently in place,” the minister said.

In June, the Malaysian Employers Federation's executive director Datuk Shamsudin Bardan said that employers could not afford to improve the living conditions of workers during these challenging times. He added that forcing employers to obey the law on minimum worker housing standards right now could force many to cease their operations. 

"Employers are (obliged) to provide safe and healthy living conditions to all legal foreign workers, but some employers right now are facing severe financial constraints due to Movement Control Order (MCO)," he said.

Update on the freezing of foreign workers' intake

In June, the Human Resources Minister announced that there will not be any new intake of foreign workers in all sectors until the end of 2021. This move would mostly affect the plantation, agriculture, manufacturing and construction sectors.

Datuk Shamsudin Bardan said the plantation sector is expected to suffer RM142 in their operations for the year due to a shortage of workers. 

Foreign worker intake will begin again next year.

How construction sites cope with Covid-19 SOPs

Senior Minister (Infrastructure Cluster) Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof said 84% of 3,282 construction sites are working within the SOPs set by the government to control the spread of Covid-19.

The minister said inspections handled by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) from April 20 - July 5 found that only 1% of the sites were ordered to close, as another 15% were issued with warnings for non-compliance.

“Those which were closed by the Health Ministry after positive Covid-19 cases were detected have re-opened after their quarantine periods ended and no other workers were found to be positive of the disease.

“The majority of those who did not comply with the SOPs have now complied after they were issued warnings, while those who continued to disobey were not allowed to operate,” Fadilah said.

He added that projects that were delayed due to the MCO were given the automatic three-month extension also involved government projects.

Source: The Malaysian Reserve

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