Labour Law offences prompt investigation as ‘Ops Restologi’ targets employers in Miri

JTK Sarawak director Awang Raduan (facing the camera, centre) leading his men to inspect premises in Miri city as part of the operation.

MIRI, Jan 24: The Department of Labour Sarawak (JTK) initiated ‘Ops Restologi’ in Miri on Tuesday night, resulting in the opening of five investigation papers against employers for various Labour Law offences.

The operations involved inspections at 19 workplaces in Miri City, with 86 personnel from JTK Sarawak participating.

Director Awang Raduan Awang Omar revealed that the investigation papers implicated 14 employers for violating 47 Labour Law regulations enforced by JTK.

In 2021, JTK Sarawak conducted 103 operations involving 353 employers, increasing to 224 operations and 1,461 employers in the following year.

In 2023, 320 operations took place, involving 1,475 employers statewide.

JTK aims to conduct 350 operations in various sectors this year, aligning with the Labour Inspection Convention 1947’s Article 2 and Article 23.

The goal is to ensure compliance with Labour Law across all sectors.

During the 2023 inspections, JTK Sarawak assessed 5,285 workplaces and issued 935 notices of violations to employers.

Financial violations totaling RM632,903.09 were detected, and RM605,554.01 of outstanding payments were paid to affected employees.

This marked the highest recorded outstanding payments through inspections in 2023, surpassing the total of RM488,896.76 in 2022.

Awang Raduan emphasised the commitment to maintaining rigorous inspections, setting a target of 6,000 workplace inspections across Sarawak for 2024. — DayakDaily