Minister Lauds Superhero Lawyers Who Won Rm760k For Migrant Workers

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Human Resources Minister Steven Sim has hailed the two lawyers who worked pro bono to help 93 migrant workers secure back pay as heroes.
He also welcomed the High Court decision, which upheld a Labour Court ruling awarding over RM760,000 to the workers, who were left stranded without jobs upon arriving in Malaysia in 2023.
"To the legal team involved - not all superheroes wear capes. Thank you," he said on X yesterday.
He was responding to a Malaysiakini article, highlighting how one of the lawyers, Sahain Nada Puthucheary, was moved to tears over their success
Sahain had represented the migrant workers together with Joachim Xavier.
Sahain Nada PuthuchearyFraud exposed
The workers’ plight was revealed in Malaysiakini’s worker quota fraud exposé in November 2023, which alleged that a migrant recruitment syndicate of six Malaysian companies had brought in hundreds of workers using fake documents and by exploiting loopholes in the government’s system.
Collectively, the companies had allegedly applied for more than 4,000 workers but received approval for 1,625. Many of the migrant workers arrived in January 2023, only to find no jobs waiting for them.
One of the companies was Aecor Innovation Sdn Bhd - which the Shah Alam High Court ruled against on Thursday.
In the decision, the High Court ruled that employers cannot treat migrant workers as a “reserve labour pool” or a standby workforce.
The RM760,000 award includes RM120,000 for unlawful deductions for phone bills, bedding, gear and cleaning costs.
Each worker will receive unpaid wages ranging from RM2,000 to RM11,000.
In a statement on Sunday, Sim lauded the court ruling, which vindicated the Human Resources Ministry's position that he set in January 2024, that all employers bringing in migrant workers need to pay them starting from when they arrive in Malaysia, regardless of whether there is work to do.
He reiterated that if there is no work, then employers should not have brought in the workers. - Mkini

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