RAWANG: Employers are allowed to undertake the voluntary separation scheme (VSS) to restructure their organisation to make it more effective, but they must not abuse it by replacing locals with foreign workers.

Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr S Subramaniam said if companies started doing that, then the locals would be out of job with foreign migrant workers taking over at half the cost.

“This will cause problems, especially with the rising cost of living,” he said during his visit to the La Farge Malayan Cement Bhd factory here yesterday.

Dr Subramaniam said he could not provide there and then the statistics of companies involved but did not dismiss the possibility of this happening.

He hoped that companies which offered the VSS would give priority to their local employees’ welfare as he had received information where in some instances after the VSS had been completed, the tasks which were previously handled by local workers were taken over by contractors who hired foreigners.

“The government does not encourage this for fear that some companies will take advantage of the situation to reduce the number of local employees and hire foreigners on low pay instead.

“I hope that employers undertaking organisational restructuring will take into consideration the needs and interests of their would-be former employees. They should be given priority in contracted work or absorbed into other industries or sectors in view of their contributions and experience.”

Dr Subramaniam also said there were contractors who hired locals but failed to contribute to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (Socso) for these workers. — Bernama