Kota Kinabalu: Sabah has agreed to establish the Sabah Labour Advisory Council which will convene a meeting soon to discuss the implementation of the latest amendments to the Sabah Labour Ordinance.
Human Resources Deputy Minister Mustapha Sakmud said his Ministry and the State Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (KSTI) held a meeting Monday to present to the Sabah Economic Action Council and the Sabah SME Council the amendments which had also been presented to the State Cabinet.
“In today’s discussion, we agreed to establish the Sabah Labour Advisory Council (Majlis Penasihat Buruh Sabah) or Sabah Labour Council and will soon discuss the implementation of the latest amendments to the Sabah Labour Ordinance.
“I would like to thank the State Government for taking this amendment into account,” he said after the Labour Ordinance Amendment Presentation Meeting (Sabah Chapter 67) at the KSTI Office, Wisma Bandaraya, here, Monday.
According to Mustapha, the Cabinet Meeting Series 17/2022 dated Oct 19, 2022 approved the Proposal to improve Government Policy - Amendment of the Labour Ordinance Bill [Sabah Chapter 67].
He said the Sabah Manpower Department sent the document and Bill of the Proposed Amendment to the Labour Ordinance [Sabah Chapter 67] to the Policy Division of the Ministry of Human Resources to be presented to the Parliament.
“The proposed amendment is to standardise the provisions of the labour law for the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak; increase and improve the protection and welfare of workers in Sabah; and to ensure the national labour law complies with the requirements of the Convention and other international Labour instruments,” he said.
He said the proposed amendment covered all private workers in the State regardless of salary limit or type of job.
“All private sector workers who enter into a service contract will benefit and be protected from the Labour Ordinance [Sabah Chapter 67],” he explained.
According to him, 16 things are proposed in the main amendment, including strengthening provisions related to the liability of salary payment (principal contractor, subcontractor, or contractor for labour) prohibition of discrimination in employment; prohibition of forced labour.
Also present at the meeting was Sabah Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Arifin Mohd Arif.
