KUALA LUMPUR: The management who failed to provide EPF and SOCSO has caused a full-time tower crane operator who works 12 hours per day, six days per week, to get his own medical card and manually pay his EPF.
His safety in his own work is not secured by the management even though knowing that his job is dangerous and could even lead to death. The employer refuse to pay EPF and SOCSO contribution with the excuse that even if it was paid, the employee’s salaries will be even lower than now.
But this is not the first case something like this happened in Malaysia. About 80 percent of 4,000 tower crane operators in Malaysia received the same treatment from their employers.
These employers are boldly ignoring the new amendments of where Employment Act 1955 where any person who has entered into a contract of service with the employer should be covered no matter how much they are paid monthly. Moreover, the employee should only work 45 hours, five days a week. The objective of the new amendment is to make sure all employee has a work-life balance.
According to the President of Workers in the Construction Industry Union, Alias Yaakob, the problem with the tower crane industry lies with the system. The main contractor of the project will use a third party when it comes to the lifting works. And the third party or the subcontractor will take advantage of the operator that they hired by refusing to pay the EPF and SOCSO.
“As a result, some 80 percent of the tower crane operators nationwide are in a shaky position as they don’t have EPF, SOCSO or even pay slips.”
“These operators were forced to work without a rest,” he adds. The operators suffer from fatigue which could lead to danger not only to them but to the public.
The employers gave non-negotiable options hence why many put up with the work that could put them in danger.
At the same time, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general Kamarul Baharin Mansor said that some business even goes as far as manipulating the Employment Act 1955 amendment to make their employee work longer than they should.
The unresponsible employer would remove the one-hour break in the eight-hour working day; meaning that the employee will spend nine hours working without a break. The manipulation of employees’ working hours has made a mockery of the main objective of the amendment.
Even though the breaks are not during working hours, it is still illegal for the company to include them in the working hours.
“When someone gets an offer letter, their working hours are stipulated in the document clearly, so it’s fine if the company has always practiced an eight-hour workday plus an hour break. But the problem is some of the companies decided to change their practice without obtaining consent from the staff.” Said Kamarul.
The exploitation of the employees’ working hours has affected their overtime,” he adds.
“This usually happens to security officers who were only paid RM1,200 even though the new minimum wage is RM1,500. They could even earn up to RM2,200 if they work 12 hours a day; which is four hours extra.”
The Human Resources Ministry encourages the employee to the labor department to report any suspected violations of the Employment Act to the labor department. The failure of management to follow the new amendment could lead to them being fined not more than RM50,000.
