PUTRAJAYA: A notice has been submitted in January to Kedah Agro Holdings Berhad to clear salary arrears of up to nine months for its staff members.
This followed a viral posting yesterday claiming that a subsidiary of the Kedah Menteri Besar Incorporated has failed to pay 23 of its staff for about six to nine months.
The posting also claimed that the company had failed to remit the employees' contributions to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Perkeso) among other contributions, despite deducting it from their salaries for about three years.
Human Resource Minister Steven Sim said the government will not compromise on the issue of unpaid wages.
"The Peninsular Malaysia department of labour (JTKSM) has issued a notice to them to pay the arrears because this is an offence under Section 19 of the Employment Act.
"Our stance at the Human Resource Ministry is that the workers are entitled to their pay.
"I hope this can be settled as soon as possible," he told the media at the sidelines of the Perkeso launch ceremony of the self-employment social security scheme's free contribution initiative.
Sim said the company would be holding a meeting with the Kedah menteri besar today on the issue.
"They (the company) have promised that they will ask for help from the state government and will hold a meeting with the menteri besar today.
"I hope the state government will take care of this matter because there are 24 employees of the company who have not been paid their salaries," he said.