This was revealed by the country’s largest employers’ groups, the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM). They said the programme would place a huge financial burden on the employers who were already facing cash flow problems due to the pandemic.

Under the government programme, migrant workers would be temporarily housed in hotels so as to curb the spread of Covid-19, especially with the large number of workplace clusters that have been reported.

The cost of stay at these hotels and centralised labour quarters certified by the Labour Department will be borne by employers, as will all related transport costs.

According to the human resources ministry, the programme will cost businesses RM270 per worker for a month; the rental fee will be RM200, utilities (RM20) and transportation (RM50).

FMM president Soh Thian Lai said the option to use the temporary accommodation should be voluntary and not mandated on industries.

Soh added that the housing cost per worker, inclusive of the cost of utilities and transportation, should be determined by the employers and not by the ministry.

MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said the programme would also cause difficulties for employers to manage their workers.

“It would not be an easy task to transport foreign workers from the hotels to the respective workplaces. Time loss could be expected arising from the need to commute daily,” Shamsuddin told FMT.

He said there was no need to accommodate workers in hotels.

“It would be better for the government to speed up the approval process of converting empty buildings to house the workers. This is a more viable option,” he said.

Aside from helping employers to comply with the minimum requirements under the labour law, the programme is also to indirectly assist hotel operators who have been greatly impacted by the pandemic.

Recently, tourism, arts and culture minister Nancy Shukri said a total of 79 hotels had signed up for the accommodation programme.

“Though 79 hotels have registered for the programme, there is no update from the Labour Department in terms of participation from the employers’ side,” she had said.

Meanwhile, Soh said employers had not been informed about the details of hotels participating in the programme, including their locations.

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