KUALA LUMPUR (June 22) | The Small and Medium Enterprises Association (SAMENTA) of Malaysia has objected to the Human Resource Development Corp’s (HRDC) imposition of RM300 per employee for processing of microcredential training grant.
In a statement on Wednesday (June 22), SAMENTA chairman Datuk William Ng said the imposition is “counterproductive” and limits small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from upskilling and reskilling their employees during a time of severe labour shortages.
“We urge the Minister of Human Resources, Datuk Seri M Saravanan, to immediately direct HRDC to put the plan to impose the said fees on hold, pending further explanations from the board of HRDC on the rationale and financial necessity for such fee,” SAMENTA said.
According to circular 2/2022 from the HRDC dated June 15, all microcredential based training grant applications will be subjected to a microcredential fee of RM300 per trainee.
The HRDC Microcredential Initiative was launched on April 13 to democratise access to upskilling and attaining formal recognitions for Malaysian talents.
The initiative is set to commence on Aug 15, whereby HRDC microcredential courses will be available to all registered employers to apply for training grants for levy utilisation.
SAMENTA highlighted that following amendments made to the Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Bhd Act in 2021, all employers, including SMEs with 10 employees and above, must contribute to HRDC funds to support skills development of Malaysian employees.
“An SME with 10 employees, paying an average of RM2,000 per month, would have to contribute RM2,400 per annum to HRDC. These funds can then be used for training programmes to be decided by the SME.
“For example, the SME could send three employees to take up a course in customer service costing RM800 per person. With the new microcredential fee kicking in, the SME would now be able to train only two employees, because RM600 from that fund would be paid to HRDC for microcredential.
“The minister, HRDC chief executive officer and its board must answer as to how training less employees with the same money that rightfully belongs to the employer helps in the upskilling of more Malaysians,” SAMENTA said.
The association also expressed its disappointment over not having been consulted prior to the announcement despite having a direct line of communication with HRDC.
©
