WORKERS in Sabah keep mum when they do not get annual leave, overtime and other benefits for a good reason: they need their jobs.
Similar to the federal Employment Act, the new SLO gives better protection for Sabah workers including overtime payment, an increase in maternity leave from 45 days to 60 days and lay-off benefits.
The SLO also states that employees must be given extra pay for working on public holidays and sets guidelines for contracts of service made between an employer and a worker.
Many of the provisions in the old SLO are irrelevant in today's context as the legislation was formulated during British rule when Sabah was predominantly an agricultural state.
But although the SLO amendments allowed formation of unions, few local branches have been set up so far.
And when workers ask bosses for a raise or enquire about benefits, they are told that "they should look for another job".
Unskilled people who work as salespersons, security guards and those employed at restaurants are vulnerable and are taken advantage of.
Some are paid RM200 monthly, some work 12 hours without extra pay and others have their jobs terminated without compensation.
That could be why youths from Sabah are willing to move to Singapore and the peninsula despite the danger of ending up as forced labour or in prostitution.
A check by the New Straits Times at several boutiques revealed that salesgirls are made to stand for 11 hours, not including their hour-long meal break, and are unaware that they should be paid overtime for extra hours and for working on public holidays.
The Sabah Manpower Department confirms Lamadas' report that a bulk of casesinvolved termination of employment without notice and problems with annual leave, sick leave, overtime payment and non-compliance with contracts.
In an emailed reply, the department said it received 2,875 complaints from 2006 to date, but noted that there was a downward trend in the number of reports which it attributed to awareness programmes.
A total of 2,634 cases were brought to the Labour Court and compensation worth RM2.9 million was paid out in the same time frame to workers, mainly involving termination of work without notice and overtime payments.
The department has checked 14,059 premises from 2006 to last year, and has found that only a handful were not complying with the SLO as "they did not know about it".
That's why Lamadas says a lot more needs to be done to educate employees.
In addition to pushing for a minimum wage of RM900 a month, Lamadas wants the SLO translated into Bahasa Malaysia so that more workers will be aware of their rights.
"Some are living in poverty. There are also cases of employers not paying Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions. Many employees seek the help of MTUC and we really feel sorry for them."
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