PUTRAJAYA – Pembinaan Ricoler Sdn Bhd is facing legal action by the Home Ministry and the Human Resources Ministry for abandoning 93 of its Bangladeshi workers brought into the country in November 2023.
Both ministries launched investigations and found that the workers were abandoned without work or accommodation by their employer following online media reports on February 22.
“The employer also failed to ensure the welfare of its workers in terms of accommodation and meals,” Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Human Resource Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong said in a joint statement here yesterday.
The rescued workers were brought to the Putrajaya Immigration Department for documentation process before being taken to the magistrate to obtain interim protection orders, they said.
They also added that the employer is facing six charges, including under the Employees’ Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodations and Amenities Act 1990, the Employment Act 1955, Section 12 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 and the Passport Act 1966.
“Finally our ministries are issuing a stern warning to all employers who hire foreign workers to always maintain their welfare and to comply with the laws of the country,” they said in the statement. – February 27, 2024