KUALA LUMPUR: The company that brought in the 171 Bangladeshi men and promised them non-existent jobs does not have a licence and primarily operates as a facilitator for businesses seeking foreign workers.
National Association of Human Resources Malaysia president Zarina Ismail said based on checks by the association, the company was an enterprise and not a recruitment agency.
She said the company brought in workers under the quotas of the businesses that it helped, and it would "sell" the quotas or outsource the workers to other companies.
She said the issue was exacerbated by the Foreign Worker Employment Relaxation Plan introduced earlier this year aimed at expediting approvals for foreign labour to three days.
"The approval process was not done according to procedure.
"When the process is shortened to three days, the government will not have time to check if employers need the quota they
requested and if they comply with the local to foreign workers ratio.
"This should be checked before approval. Checking a company's eligibility after approval is wrong. Employers may take advantage of the relaxation and make Malaysia look weak as we don't scrutinise if we truly need the workers."
Earlier this year, former human resources minister V. Sivakumar said under the relaxation plan, employers would be allowed to employ foreign workers from 15 countries without needing to meet employment eligibility prerequisites and quota eligibility.
Zarina urged the government to blacklist employers who profit from selling their foreign worker quotas to other companies.
She said employers and recruitment agencies preferred to recruit Bangladeshis as agents in Bangladesh would pay large sums to facilitate the process.
The agents in Bangladesh were paid a large sum by the workers who see Malaysia as a ticket to a more comfortable life.
Zarina called for an integrated system between ministries, departments and agencies to cross-check documents and status of a company prior to quota approval.
On Dec 20, 171 Bangladeshis walked to a police station to try to lodge a report against their agent, who allegedly failed to provide them with jobs after three to six months in Kota Tinggi, Johor.
The men were detained that day and handed over to the Immigration Department for overstaying, but they entered the country with valid documents.
Association of Employment Agencies Malaysia vice-president Suresh Tan said it was time the government revamped its foreign worker policies and the approval process as the current one was put in place 20 years ago.
He said companies that hire foreign workers should be required to put up security bonds.
"So we have more responsibility in terms of checking whether it is a genuine job order, whether the salary is paid on time and whether they have been given proper accommodation. We have to do our part.
"In neighbouring countries, employers who hire foreign workers cannot directly
recruit and must go through agencies as the government cannot scrutinise all industries, so they pass the responsibility to agents."
He urged the government to make it compulsory for employers to recruit foreign workers through agents.
"Employers or agents who bring in workers should be responsible and pay the promised salaries even as they are waiting for jobs.
"Another way is for companies to bring in foreign workers gradually instead of all at once.
"This is probably because the government has announced that the quota approvals are valid for only one year, so employers are rushing to bring them in."