Employers to sign undertaking, pay foreign worker levy from Jan 1

PUTRAJAYA: Employers who have been given approval to employ foreign workers are required to sign the Employer Mandatory Commitment (EMC) and bear the full cost of levy for each worker effective from Jan 1, 2018.
Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot said since Feb 1 this year, 5,687 employers from various sectors had signed the EMC involving the employment of 160,131 new foreign workers.
"As at Dec 19 this year, 522 employers involving 11,514 new foreign workers had yet to sign the undertaking document.
"They are also required to sign the EMC," he said in a statement issued here today.
Riot said the government's decision to compel employers to shoulder the levy would also apply to all employers employing foreign workers before Feb 1, 2017.
Since March 25, 2016, he said the government had decided that the payment of levy for each foreign worker in various economic sectors would be fully borne by employers.
He said the decision should have been implemented from Jan 1 this year but it was postponed to Jan 1 next year following appeals by various employer associations for a grace period before the implementation of the decision.
"The decision of the government to postpone the implementation of foreign foreign worker levy payment had provided a platform of one and half years as preparation to meet the new requirement," he said. — Bernama