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Initiative underway to strengthen Malaysian mechanisms on wage protection for migrant workers

Initiative underway to strengthen Malaysian mechanisms on wage protection for migrant workers

Specific areas of action include measures to promote wage protection, supporting migrant workers to calculate and claim their wages, and assisting them in cross border claims.

Non-payment of wages or wage loss continues to be a key issue facing migrant workers in Malaysia, a situation which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, the second phase of the ILO’s Migrant Workers Empowerment and Advocacy (MWEA) project has been launched as of 3 February 2023, aimed at helping to strengthen Malaysian policies and mechanisms on wage protection for migrant workers.

Specific areas of action in this phase will include measures to promote wage protection, supporting migrant workers to calculate and claim their wages, and working with relevant organisations to assist migrant workers in making cross border claims.

The initiative, which will run until 2026, is funded by the United States Department of Labor (USDOL). It runs complementary to the Malaysian Government's commitment to strengthen wage protections for migrant workers, with the adoption of the National Action Plan on Forced Labour (NAPFL) in 2021.

Thus, this MWEA project will collaborate with the government and relevant stakeholders (such as trade unions and Civil Society Organisations, or CSOs) to support the implementation of these commitments, with a particular focus on three sectors:

  • Plantation,
  • Manufacturing, and
  • Electronics sectors.

Nilim Baruah, Senior Migration Specialist, based at ILO’s regional office in Bangkok, said: "Migrant workers are entitled to their full and due wages and benefits. This initiative will support the Government of Malaysia’s efforts to enhance wage protection. It will also help build the awareness amongst migrant workers of their rights and what to do in the event that these rights are abused."

The first phase of the MWEA project (2016-2022) supported efforts to protect the rights of women and men migrant workers in Malaysia. The second phase will continue to build on these past achievements, seeing as a regional survey conducted by the ILO in October-November 2021, which included 92 migrant workers in Malaysia, found that 52% of laid-off or retrenched respondents had not been fully paid for work they had completed.

As such, awareness raising and training activities will be carried out for migrant workers on areas including labour rights, calculating working time and due wages as well as filing wage and social security claims. Support services will be extended to Sabah and Sarawak in Eastern Malaysia where large numbers of migrant workers are employed, particularly in the plantation sector.


Lead image / Shutterstock

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