Employers in Malaysia required to bear full cost of hiring foreign workers

Employers in Malaysia who are keen on hiring foreign workers will have to bear the full costs involved in bringing them into the country, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said. 

“The costs include levy payment and the cost of quarantine on arrival at the country’s entry points,” he noted at a press conference, reports Bernama. 

Foreign workers are required to undergo a mandatory quarantine period of seven days at a government-certified quarantine centre and they can only enter via Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), klia2, and designated entry points in Sabah and Sarawak which will be announced on a later date, he said.

So far, Malaysia has outlined the standing protocols for the entry of foreign workers, which will cover four stages —  pre-departure, arrival, post-arrival (quarantine period), and post-quarantine. 

READ: Job ads in Malaysia rose in second quarter of 2011

Last week, Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan highlighted that the country is studying the foreign worker salary payment system currently implemented in the United Arab Emirates to better improve the management of foreign workers in the country. 

“The systematic salary payment system implemented by the UAE government is seen as an effective system that protects the interests of foreign workers,” he highlighted then.