Activists have called a bill aimed at amending and harmonising Sabah’s labour legislation with Malaysian federal employment laws a positive step for workers’ rights in the East Malaysian state.
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However, they noted there is still a lot of work to be done, especially for Sabah’s oil palm plantations where labour risks such as child labour exploitation is rife.
Malaysia’s human resources minister Steven Sim announced the tabling of the Sabah Labour Ordinance (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday. It marks only the second time Sabah’s labour law has been amended in 20 years.
Speaking at a press conference, Sim said the amendment bill would cover 70 clauses to harmonise the state’s labour laws with Malaysia’s federal labour laws, mainly the Employment Act 1955, the Children and Young Persons (Employment) Act 1966 and Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodation and Facilities for Employees Act 1990.
Child labour on oil palm plantations
Nurfarhani Abdul, a volunteer with child rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) Advocates for Non-discrimination and Access to Knowledge (ANAK), said the inclusion of provisions relating to child labour and protection was a welcome update, and would be useful in protecting children in Sabah’s oil palm plantations.
“During our advocacy work, we found not just stateless and foreign children, but also many Indigenous Sabahan children working on oil palm plantations at risk of exploitation,” said Nurfarhani.
She said these circumstances were in part driven by Sabah’s economy, which see-saws between the poorest or second-poorest state in the country, and many children were trying to help their families survive poverty.
However, she expressed her concern that these stateless children and youths would be left out of protection, due to their lack of legal documents and status, and called for better mechanisms to protect them against exploitation.
Further checks with the human resources ministry confirmed that the provisions would only apply to legally-registered foreign workers in Sabah.
Currently, the state’s foreign workers and non-residents registration system contained 21,994 workers and 17,282 dependents and relatives as of April 2024.
“Their stateless condition not only leaves them unprotected against labour exploitation, but also hinders them from access to education — a critical factor in eradicating child labour exploitation,” Nurfarhani explained.
Karla Correa, regional child rights and business specialist for UNICEF East Asia and the Pacific, also expressed the same concerns.
Correa said it was estimated that between 40,000 to 60,000 children are exposed to child labour risks in Sabah, comprising migrant and those of undocumented migrant descent, as Malaysia as the second largest host to migrants in Southeast Asia.
“This is just an estimation, the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis has worsened the realities of families and the situation on the ground changes regularly,” she explained. She added that in this context, more data was needed to understand the true numbers of exploited child labour, the specific issues and sectors involved.
ILO Malaysia representative Josh Hong (left) and Correa (right), at the launch of a major EU-funded project to address child labour in Sabah. Image: UNICEF Malaysia / Facebook
Addressing root causes
Currently, UNICEF, along with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the European Union and Sabahan communities are collaborating on a project aimed at addressing the root causes leading to child labour, by promoting socio-economic inclusion through educational and training opportunities, Correa told Eco-Business.
“We will enhance the capacity of public institutions and stakeholders to address child labour issues by ensuring policy dialogue and coordination.”
“By obtaining new evidence, we will raise awareness among all relevant parties, including the government, smallholders, and the media, about the risks faced by children and the comprehensive response required,” Correa said.
Additionally, she said the project aimed to develop core and entrepreneurship skills for children and youth associated with oil palm plantations, and the results will be evaluated in the next 18 months to inform a United Nations roadmap for coordinated efforts in Sabah.
A 2018 national survey commissioned by the ministry of plantation, industries and commodities estimated 33,600 children aged 5 to 17 years working as child labour, primarily in oil palm plantations, at a prevalence rate of 11.5 per cent. This means that for every 100 children in the age group, about 11 are working on plantations.
Sabah accounted for 58.8 per cent, or roughly 19,800 child labourers. According to the study, two-thirds of these child labourers were Malaysian citizens.
Improved parental rights
Robert Hii, co-founder and vice-president of Sabah NGO SERATA (Society for Equality, Respect and Trust for All Sabah), said the update was long overdue, pointing to the power imbalance between employers versus employees.
SERATA, which focuses on gender equality and workplace sexual harassment in the state, started campaigning for Sabah’s labour law to be updated since the beginning of January 2023.
SERATA volunteers published an online petition that garnered over 10,000 signatures which helped raise awareness on the issue of paternal leave. Image: Sabrina Aripen / SERATA
Some changes SERATA had campaigned for include the introduction of paternity leave, following a highly-publicised case of a Sabahan man who tragically found his wife dead at home with their newborn. He had been forced to return to work after just two days’ leave to attend to his late wife.
“Many employees are not aware of their legal rights, like the importance of an employment contract and their rights upon termination of employment, and are thus easily exploited,” Hii said.
Hii also acknowledged the challenges of running a business in Sabah, as businesses face higher costs compared to their Peninsular counterparts. Thus, it was only natural that Sabahan business owners would only see the costs the updated ordinance could impose on them, he said.
“There is definitely a lot of work to be done after this bill. Much of the information on employment rights and benefits are not easily available or accesed by the ordinary person,” he said.
Aside from educating Sabahan employers and workers on their rights and obligations, Hii said there needs to be awareness and knowledge of the new provisions once they are passed into law. Information should be inclusive in terms of language and easily disseminated beyond the state’s urban areas, he said.
Bill will ensure compliance with international standards
At the press conference, Sim said the bill’s tabling, already agreed to by the Sabah government, would ensure Malaysia’s labour laws complied with international labour standards, especially the ILO’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
“This will improve Malaysia’s image, further attracting investors, especially from abroad,” he said.
Besides Sabah, Sim announced that Sarawak’s own Labour Ordinance would be amended as well, having obtained agreement from the Sarawak government and the amendment bill is expected to be tabled at the next Malaysian parliament session.
