Its president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman said the government’s move to fully digitalise foreign-worker recruitment through the foreign workers centralised management system (FWCMS) must go beyond replacing paperwork with online forms.
PETALING JAYA: Employers should be able to track foreign-worker applications from submission to approval through a single system, with clear explanations for delays and no need to repeatedly submit the same documents to different agencies, said the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).
Its president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman said the government’s move to fully digitalise foreign-worker recruitment through the foreign workers centralised management system (FWCMS) must go beyond replacing paperwork with online forms.
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“The objective should be a ‘one application, one system, one status’ approach.
“Employers should not have to repeatedly submit the same information to different agencies or make physical visits simply to obtain updates on their applications,” he said in a statement.
Employers should have end-to-end visibility of their applications, including whether they were under review, required additional information, were awaiting action by a particular agency, or had been approved or rejected.
He said clear service-level timelines should be established, particularly as the government had indicated that complete applications could receive the relevant approval within 14 days.
“Any delay should be accompanied by a clear explanation and details of the action required from the employer, where applicable.”
Syed Hussain said information submitted and verified through FWCMS should, where legally and technically possible, be accessible to all relevant government agencies instead of requiring employers to resubmit the same documents.
He said this was particularly important for businesses in sectors facing genuine labour shortage and relying on foreign workers to complement the local workforce.
“Digitalisation should not mean relaxing requirements. It should make compliance more efficient, predictable and transparent,” he said.
MEF also called for the online system to have sufficient technical capacity, cybersecurity safeguards and data protection measures.
It added that system downtime or technical failures could directly disrupt business operations once applications were processed entirely online.
Syed Hussain said employers should continue to have access to a responsive helpdesk and escalation mechanism for technical problems, complex cases or applications remaining unresolved beyond the prescribed timeframe.
“For businesses, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises, predictability is extremely important.
“Employers need to know how long the process is likely to take, which requirements must be fulfilled and what they need to do if an application encounters a problem.”
He said an effective digital system should fundamentally improve the efficiency, transparency and predictability of the entire process, rather than merely transferring paper-based procedures online.
Meanwhile, Syed Hussain supported the government’s phased approach to allocating foreign-worker quotas, including the implementation of an approved quota policy for the restaurant sector.
A phased and closely monitored approach would allow the government to align recruitment with labour-market requirements while tracking compliance and quota utilisation.
MEF also welcomed the Human Resources Ministry’s consideration of a foreign worker transit centre to address congestion and operational difficulties faced by foreign workers arriving in Malaysia.
Syed Hussain said the proposed pilot facility should operate as a coordinated one-stop centre where verification, documentation and related procedures could be completed efficiently.
“The key objective should be to ensure that foreign workers can complete the necessary processes and report for work as soon as possible after arriving in Malaysia.”
MEF said the digitalisation of applications and improvements to arrival and transit procedures should form part of a broader effort to create a more integrated and efficient foreign-worker management system.
