KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) claimed that it has received some 500 complaints of employers operating without approval during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period..
The employers were also said to have set aside operational conditions as set by the government, as they cranked up their companies, it said.
Apart from threatening to sack employees who refuse to come to work, some employers were also alleged to have deployed 100 per cent of their workforce.
MTUC president Datuk Abdul Halim Mansor in revealing some of the action taken by these employers said it went against the conditions set by the International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI) in that operations given the green light should only operate at 50 per cent strength.
“MTUC has received more than 500 complaints via official and non-official platforms since the MCO was enforced on March 18.
“This includes ordering workers to come to work and any failure to adhere will see them facing the risk of being sacked by employers, as well as adopting normal working hours, working extra hours, no transportation provided, no safety equipment given and various other complaints,” he said in a statement, here, today.
He added that employers were only thinking about themselves and their companies with no regard on their workers' health in this time of crisis.
Halim said MITI had already issued green light for industries to commence operations provided industries adhere to conditions and guidelines, failure to do so will see their permission revoked.
All employees working with companies that were allowed to operate during the MCO must undergo Covid-19 screening, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said on Thursday.
Halim said some employers had been granted permission to continue operating since the first day of the MCO as they were categorised as critical industry.
“It's day 31 today, when will the health screening for workers in companies which are operating be implemented?
“MTUC is concerned that all the efforts of the Health Ministry in curbing the spread of the Covid-19 infection will prove to be useless when a new cluster appears - the ‘industrial workers cluster’.
“As such it is essential that screening is implemented as soon as possible to reduce the possibility of new clusters from cropping up,” he said.
On the screening mechanism, Halim said the cost of the screening should be borne by the employers instead of using the Social Security Organisation's (SOCSO) financial provision.
“MTUC is disappointed and is against MITI's proposal of allowing the cost of screening to be borne by SOCSO,” he said.