PUTRAJAYA - The quota approval of employers that engage foreign workers through the Foreign Worker Employment Relaxation Plan (PKPPA) will be revoked if they are found to have fired local workers, said Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar.
In a statement today, he said the action of employers or companies that fire local workers and replace them with foreign workers is against the provision in Section 60M of the Labour Act 1955.
Any employer or company found to have committed the offence can be fined up to RM50,000, he said.
The PKPPA is being implemented by the Ministry of Human Resources (KSM), in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs, from Jan 17 to this March 31 to speed up the approval of applications for foreign worker quotas in five critical sectors, namely plantation, manufacturing, construction, agriculture and services (restaurants).
Sivakumar said the ministry had received many complaints about local companies firing local workers after their applications for foreign worker quota were approved.
The latest was on the dismissal of 102 local workers in Penang, he added.
He warned local employers and companies that their applications for quota and permission to employ foreign workers were approved to cover the shortage of manpower and should never be used as an excuse to replace existing local workers.
Employers are required to give priority to every job vacancy in the country for the locals, he added. - BERNAMA