PUTRAJAYA: Human Resources Minister Steven Sim said the Shah Alam High Court’s ruling on unpaid wages to foreign workers should serve as a clear warning to employers, as withholding salaries is a serious breach of Malaysia’s labour laws.
Referring to the ruling delivered on Friday, he said the Human Resources Ministry would not compromise with any party that denies workers their fundamental rights.
The Shah Alam High Court upheld a Labour Court ruling on Nov 8, 2024, awarding over RM760,000 in back pay to 93 migrant workers who were left stranded without jobs upon arriving in Malaysia in 2023.
“This ruling indirectly reaffirms the ministry’s stance that every employer who brings migrant workers into the country is obliged to pay their wages from the moment they arrive in Malaysia, even if they have not yet been assigned any tasks,” he said in a statement today.
Sim reiterated that every foreign worker in Malaysia is entitled to receive wages, and employers cannot shirk their responsibility by claiming there is no work available for them.
“The principle is clear — if there are no jobs available, employers should not bring in foreign workers.
“However, once the workers have been recruited, it becomes the employer’s duty to pay their wages,” he said.
He said all 93 affected foreign workers have since been successfully placed with new employers under the special employer exchange initiative implemented by the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia under the ministry.
HR minister: Court back-pay ruling a warning for employers over unpaid migrant wages. (2025, November ___). New Straits Times https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2025/11/1307151/hr-minister-court-backpay-ruling-warning-employers-over-unpaid-migrant
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