Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97) - Malaysia - Sabah (Ratification: 1964)

Article 1(b) and (c) of the Convention. Information on conditions of work and livelihood of migrants for employment.Special agreements. The Committee notes that, in its report, the Government reiterates that bilateral agreements on international labour migration are categorized as classified documents and that it has no intention to declassify these documents. The Committee wishes to recall that Article 1(c) of the Convention requires Member States to make these agreements available on request to the International Labour Office and to other Members. It also refers to the ILO General Principles and Operational Guidelines for Fair Recruitment and Definition of Recruitment Fees and Related Costs inviting Members to make international agreements on labour migration publicly available. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the structure of existing bilateral agreements and the main rights and duties of the parties. The Committee also urges the Government to consider making those agreements publicly available, except for strictly confidential provisions.

Article 6(1)(a). No less favourable treatment. Foreign worker levy. The Committee recalls that, in January 2018, the Government introduced a policy that all levies imposed on the hiring of foreign workers shall be borne by employers, following its indication that the deduction of levies from the wages of foreign workers may result in unfavourable treatment of these workers as compared to nationals, contrary to Article 6(1)(a) of the Convention. It takes note that the Government states that it is implementing a “zero cost” policy on foreign workers who enter Malaysia to work. This policy is incorporated in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the employment of workers with source countries where all payments including levies shall be borne by the employer. In addition, according to the current law, deduction of salary is only permitted if approval from the Director-General for Labour (DGL) is obtained in accordance with sections 24(4) to (5) of the Employment Act, failing which the deduction shall be illegal and become an offence that is punishable under the law and the DGL shall not authorise any deduction of salary to pay levy under the current policy. Concerning the exact role of the Steering Committee on the Multi-tier Levy (MTL) system established to examine the impact of the levy system, the Government indicates that it is still studying and evaluating the MTL and its implementation and that it has recently instructed the relevant agencies to prepare papers to be presented to the National Economic Action Council (MTEN) for a decision on the direction of its implementation. The Committee requests the Government to indicate if this new policy also applies to MoUs signed with source countries before 2018 or only to MoUs signed after the entry into force of the new policy. It also requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the progress of the final evaluation exercise of the Multi-Tier Levy and its outcome; and (ii) the number and nature of violations investigated under this new policy, and sanctions imposed in such instances.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.