KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Trade Unions Congress (MTUC) has called on the authorities to be transparent and make public the list of recipients of the special relief facility (SRF) and Employers Insurance Scheme (EIS) to avoid abuse of such aid.
In a statement, MTUC secretary-general J. Solomon said this would facilitate two-way accountability where workers would be able to ascertain if their employers are SRF or EIS recipients, and if so, the value of the assistance.
“This vital information will assist workers who were laid off or forced to take pay cuts despite their employers being given the financial assistance to bring their case to the relevant authorities,” he said.
He added that in recent weeks, there had been numerous reports of workers being forced to take pay cuts or retrenched arbitrarily by employers which had benefited from government aid packages such as the SRF.
“While we are saying this may not be the norm, the onus is on the government to ensure that the funds are not misused at a time when everyone is chipping in to make sure workers are kept in employment,” he said.
Solomon said the government must ensure the billions of ringgit in financial assistance achieves its core objective of ensuring that workers remain employed, and making public the list of recipients would go a long way to ensure such accountability from employers in small and medium-sized enterprises.
He said the government’s honourable intentions in the disbursement of the aids are not in dispute, however, the noble schemes are not free from the risk of abuses and financial improprieties.
“Therefore, the government must put a detailed list in the Bank Negara and Social Security Organisation’s (Socso) websites for all to see. Any employee who has been short changed or cheated will be able to lodge immediate reports with the authorities,” added Solomon. -Bernama
