PETALING JAYA – The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) has pointed out weakness in a new government policy requiring employers to receive foreign workers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), stating it lacks information on who should receive the workers and the 6 hours window period was too short.
This comes after Immigration Department Director-General Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud said employers are required to receive new foreign workers as they are responsible to manage workers' documents and to confirm that the foreign workers are hired by them.
MEF President Datuk Syed Hussain Syed Husman said the 6 hours window as specified by the Immigration Department may be too short.
"Even though there is a possibility of the 6 hours window to be extended, it does not specify how long it can extend to.
"Based on the new policy foreign workers will not be released until their employers arrive at KLIA. However, the new policy did not specify who can represent the employers,” he said in a statement.
He added that MEF also calls for further clarity on the new policy so that hitches will be minimised when it is implemented.
It was disclosed that the consequences of employers failing to comply the requirement will be costly and will give rise to other challenges.