KUALA LUMPUR: About 60 per cent of Malaysian workers would find it tough to survive beyond a week, and do not have the means to raise even RM1,000 for household expenses, if they were to lose their jobs abruptly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Melayu (MTEM) senior fellow Azlan Awang based this grim prediction on the fact that a Bank Negara-NEAC study in 2017 showed that up to 60 per cent of Malaysian households were surviving below the living wage, meaning that they did not earn enough to have a normal standard of living.
"The current Covid-19 crisis has exposed this major weakness in our society, (therefore) confirming the findings in the study. It also showed that (most) workers have enough money for only a week if they lose their jobs overnight, which is the criterion for the vulnerability classification," he said in a Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC)-organised webinar titled "Challenges Facing Workers in the Covid-19 Pandemic," on Saturday.
Azlan said following the study, the central bank had classified 75 per cent of Malaysia's work force as belonging to the country's most vulnerable group and that they are the hardest hit in the current economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic which has paralysed international trade and domestic businesses.
"Malaysian workers generally have very low purchasing power. This is the reason why they cannot cope with the rising cost of living especially in moments like this pandemic," he said.
Even before the pandemic, he said wages in Malaysia were "something we could not be proud of," adding that the wage share with the GDP was only 35 per cent, with a median amount of RM2,300 a month.
He said the impact of Covid-19 has shown that the Malaysian economy is actually very fragile.
"I hope this finding will not be made as a statement of fact over the next few months when the impact of Covid-19 bites further. From this experience, the MTEM feels the government has to reset the business and economic sectors to make them more worker-friendly and resilient enough to face situations similar to Covid-19 or even worse.
"We need to strike a balance and not focus on business and economic growth per se. We must have a system in place which will be more sustainable," he said.
Touching on the economic stimulus package, he said only a faction or 16 per cent of the RM13.8 billion set aside under Socso's Employment Insurance Scheme (EIS) has been approved to be distributed as a wage subsidy to two million workers employed by 267,752 employers.
"The actual number of workers eligible for this wage subsidy is nine million. (But only) a total of RM2.22 billion has been given. There could be a variety of reasons for this low figure.
"Among them are that some employers may be in the process of applying; others may not possess the necessary documents. But there could also be employers who aren't keen (on applying for EIS) as one of the condition is that they cannot retrench workers for six months," Azlan said.
He also said underemployment remains a major problem in the Malaysian workforce, as the official criterion for full employment is working at least 120 hours per week, meaning that many workers are in fact underemployed or unemployed.
This, Azlan said, also indicates that the unemployment rate is actually higher than the data provided by authorities and called for the actual figures to be disclosed to enable relevant parties to map out suitable policies for workers and those joining the job market.
Another panelist, labour lawyer Arun Kumar, pointed out that the government may be helpless in dealing with employers who were given wage subsidies, but went ahead and retrenched workers after three months or more, ignoring the six-month caveat on retrenchment.
He expressed concerns faced by workers such as unlawful deductions of annual leave, leave without pay, and unlawful deductions of wages.
"This wage subsidy scheme was not drawn up from any law or legislation passed by Parliament, unlike some other countries, which enacted specific Covid-19 laws before disbursing aid packages with specified (and legally binding) conditions.
"As things stand, there may be impediments for the Malaysian government to act against employers if they lay off workers after receiving the aid. Under existing labour laws, employers only need to notify the Labour Department if they want to retrench workers," he said.
Arun said this is clearly insufficient and the department must investigate and verify the claims of firms requesting to lay off workers.
"The onus is on the firms to prove their losses. For this the (government) officers must be given more powers so that the laws can have more bite," he said.
On workers being forced to take annual leave, Arun said the courts have come up with a binding ruling that annual leave is only for the purpose of personal travel as well as rest and recreation.
"Annual leave is not for the interest of the company's financial situation and cannot be forced on employees. They are forced to stay home. So any worker who was forced to take leave can lodge a complaint with the Labour Department," he said.
He also argued that there is no legal basis for employers to claim frustration of contract, since the Movement Control Order (MCO) is not for a prolonged period of time, or force majeure, in the case of Covid-19, when there is no such clause in employment contracts.
National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) member A. Sivananthan urged the Human Resources Ministry to be more proactive and give workers encouragement and hope.
He also expressed serious concerns over the efficiency of Jabatan Tenaga Kerja (JTK).
"Hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs, suffered pay cuts or are being forced to take leave. Arising from the arbitrary actions of employers, workers are suffering and undergoing extreme hardship to put food on the table for their families.
"I would urge the minister and MOHR officers to please engage the unions and workers. This is our livelihood. Workers are not a commodity that you can buy and sell in the market. Respect the workers and help them keep their jobs and their sanity.
"The Covid-19 economic impact is expected to worsen over the next few months *and the MOHR cannot remain silent. It must act to protect the workers. If MOHR ensures employers comply with the Code of Conduct for Industrial Harmony, the employers will not act arbitrarily," he added.
Siva urged the ministry to implement an effective Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) to ensure employers do not bully employees or hold them to ransom.
"The employers have raked in profits for decades and (now) they say they cannot function even for two months under Covid-19. They have made huge profits with the sweat and tears of the workers. At least 50 per cent of the Malaysian population are workers, that's how big the current problem is," he said.
He cited the case of Parkroyal Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, which decided to abruptly close recently for 15 months to refurbish, retrenching all employees in the process. Siva said shuttering the hotel in the midst of the pandemic and rendering the workers jobless, without warning, was an extremely insensitive and inconsiderate thing to do.
In the face of all these concerns, Siva urged the Minister of Human Resources to introduce the Emergency Employment Regulation, which is critical to prevent workers from being abused by employers during this Covid-19 pandemic crisis.