Limitations of Social Security Laws and Policies vis-a-vis migrant workers in Malaysia

On the basis of the standards established by the international legal regimes and the principle of equality of treatment which is enshrined in the Federal Constitution, it is argued that the social security laws enforced in Malaysia are discriminatory vis-a-vis migrant workers. This is because the co...

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Main Authors:	Mohamad Amin, Noor Shuhadawati, Ab Aziz, Norjihan, Ab Hamid, Zuraini
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Faculty of Law, University of Malaya 2017
Subjects:	K Law (General) KPG Malaysia
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/75391/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/75391/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/75391/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/75391/1/RIGS%202.pdf

id	iium-75391
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-753912019-11-15T02:12:30Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/75391/ Limitations of Social Security Laws and Policies vis-a-vis migrant workers in Malaysia Mohamad Amin, Noor Shuhadawati Ab Aziz, Norjihan Ab Hamid, Zuraini K Law (General) KPG Malaysia On the basis of the standards established by the international legal regimes and the principle of equality of treatment which is enshrined in the Federal Constitution, it is argued that the social security laws enforced in Malaysia are discriminatory vis-a-vis migrant workers. This is because the country has two different laws governing national workers and migrant workers in the case of employment injury. Under these laws, the benefits provided to migrant workers are inadequate and inequitable because they are inferior to the benefits offered to national workers. Furthermore, the invalidity benefit which is received by national workers is not made available to migrant workers. The old-age benefit introduced by the national provident fund is unfair to migrant workers because their contribution is not made compulsory and their employer’s contribution is very low as compared to the benefit enjoyed by national workers. Additionally, the portability of the social security rights from Malaysia to migrant workers’ home country fail to be enforced due to lack of coordination through bilateral and multilateral agreements between countries. Hence, this research seeks to analyse the employment injury schemes under the Employees’ Social Security Act 1969 (ESSA) available to national workers and workmen compensation scheme under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952 (WCA) available to migrant workers. Further, this research also attempts to investigate the savings for retirement age provisions under the Employees’ Provident Fund Act 1991 (EPFA) specifically for migrant workers and other policy issues such as portability of social security rights and overlapping of ministerial responsibilities. These shortcomings make a strong case for extending social security rights to migrant workers in Malaysia on the basis of equality. Faculty of Law, University of Malaya 2017-12 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/75391/1/RIGS%202.pdf Mohamad Amin, Noor Shuhadawati and Ab Aziz, Norjihan and Ab Hamid, Zuraini (2017) Limitations of Social Security Laws and Policies vis-a-vis migrant workers in Malaysia. Journal of Malaysian and Comparative Law, 44 (2). pp. 21-44. ISSN 0126-6322 https://ejournal.um.edu.my/index.php/JMCL/article/view/16345/9833 16345
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	K Law (General) KPG Malaysia
spellingShingle	K Law (General) KPG Malaysia Mohamad Amin, Noor Shuhadawati Ab Aziz, Norjihan Ab Hamid, Zuraini Limitations of Social Security Laws and Policies vis-a-vis migrant workers in Malaysia
description	On the basis of the standards established by the international legal regimes and the principle of equality of treatment which is enshrined in the Federal Constitution, it is argued that the social security laws enforced in Malaysia are discriminatory vis-a-vis migrant workers. This is because the country has two different laws governing national workers and migrant workers in the case of employment injury. Under these laws, the benefits provided to migrant workers are inadequate and inequitable because they are inferior to the benefits offered to national workers. Furthermore, the invalidity benefit which is received by national workers is not made available to migrant workers. The old-age benefit introduced by the national provident fund is unfair to migrant workers because their contribution is not made compulsory and their employer’s contribution is very low as compared to the benefit enjoyed by national workers. Additionally, the portability of the social security rights from Malaysia to migrant workers’ home country fail to be enforced due to lack of coordination through bilateral and multilateral agreements between countries. Hence, this research seeks to analyse the employment injury schemes under the Employees’ Social Security Act 1969 (ESSA) available to national workers and workmen compensation scheme under the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1952 (WCA) available to migrant workers. Further, this research also attempts to investigate the savings for retirement age provisions under the Employees’ Provident Fund Act 1991 (EPFA) specifically for migrant workers and other policy issues such as portability of social security rights and overlapping of ministerial responsibilities. These shortcomings make a strong case for extending social security rights to migrant workers in Malaysia on the basis of equality.
format	Article
author	Mohamad Amin, Noor Shuhadawati Ab Aziz, Norjihan Ab Hamid, Zuraini
author_facet	Mohamad Amin, Noor Shuhadawati Ab Aziz, Norjihan Ab Hamid, Zuraini
author_sort	Mohamad Amin, Noor Shuhadawati
title	Limitations of Social Security Laws and Policies vis-a-vis migrant workers in Malaysia
title_short	Limitations of Social Security Laws and Policies vis-a-vis migrant workers in Malaysia
title_full	Limitations of Social Security Laws and Policies vis-a-vis migrant workers in Malaysia
title_fullStr	Limitations of Social Security Laws and Policies vis-a-vis migrant workers in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed	Limitations of Social Security Laws and Policies vis-a-vis migrant workers in Malaysia
title_sort	limitations of social security laws and policies vis-a-vis migrant workers in malaysia
publisher	Faculty of Law, University of Malaya
publishDate	2017
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/75391/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/75391/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/75391/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/75391/1/RIGS%202.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:46:40Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:46:40Z
_version_	1777413495573184512

Limitations of Social Security Laws and Policies vis-a-vis migrant workers in Malaysia

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