MY family and I run a small shoe-manufacturing business in the Nilai Industrial Area and have been operating for over 15 years.
We have around 50 employees and have been doing well since the business was set up. However, like many other businesses, we were severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting movement control orders.
As a result, we were forced to cut salaries and eliminate overtime pay as well as other benefits for our staff.
We dug deep into our reserves to keep our staff as they had been with us for many years and also had families to feed.
It was the toughest time of our lives but fortunately, with the help of the government at that time, we were able to weather it and are still operating today.
Our business is just beginning to pick up and we have only recently settled our outstanding debts and resumed paying our staff their full salaries.
Production is almost 100%, and hopefully, in a month or so, we will be able to reintroduce staff benefits, including overtime.
What is frustrating is the proposal by Union Network International-Malaysia Labour Centre (Uni-MLC) for employers to contribute 20% towards the Employees Provident Fund. The timing for such a proposal is inappropriate as most businesses are just reviving.
One thing the government can do is to put a stop to the move by Bank Negara Malaysia to raise the OPR (Overnight Policy Rate), to ease the rakyat’s sufferings.
Given the current challenging economic conditions brought about by the pandemic, the government should not allow such measures to be enforced, which will put an additional burden on businesses.
There are also fears mounting that we may be hit again by another wave of Covid-19, considering the increasing number of infections recently.
The government should assist businesses in their recovery and rebuilding efforts, ensuring they are on solid footing to contribute to economic recovery.
Khairul Nizam Ziauddin
Nilai
