KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya is looking to implement the e-wages (electronic wages) system as soon as possible to ensure employees get paid in real-time.
This comes after the reported suicide of a Pakistani worker over allegations of unpaid wages.
Drawing on the incident which he said should never have happened during the pandemic, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said that there was currently no mechanism within the job market to monitor if employers were paying the salary of their workers.
He however said that the e-wages module, poised to be launched soon, would ensure employees' salaries are paid before the seventh of each month as stipulated under the Employment Act 1955.
"The implementation of the e-wages would ensure transparency and avoid any manipulation by employers in the salary payment of their employees."
"In fact, the image and credibility of the country would also be preserved (with the e-wages system), especially in the aspect of employing foreign workers in this country," Saravanan said in a statement here today.
He further said that the implementation of this system would "indirectly ensure the rights and welfare of workers are protected."
Saravanan also said the Labour Department was committed to investigate the incident thoroughly and that appropriate action would be taken against the employer if the allegations are proven true.
Shahzad Ahmed reportedly committed suicide after alleging that his employer did not pay his salary for the past five months.
He posted a video of himself on social media saying he could no longer take the burden.
Authorities reportedly said Shahad's employer could not afford to pay the deceased his salary from December 2020 to April this year due to financial problems as a result of the Movement Control Order (MCO).