MSN welcomes the tabling of the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2025, which contains several long-overdue provisions for the protection of workers in formal and semi-formal employment. In particular, MSN commends the proposed extension of minimum wage protections to domestic workers and the inclusion of provisions addressing exploitative working hours for shift workers in the manufacturing sector. These are meaningful steps that reflect years of sustained advocacy by labour rights organisations, trade unions, and affected workers across the country.
However, MSN cautions that legislative progress without commensurate enforcement capacity is insufficient. The Department of Labour’s inspector-to-workplace ratio remains critically inadequate — current figures indicate that each labour inspector is responsible for monitoring over 400 registered workplaces, a caseload that renders systematic monitoring functionally impossible. The amendments tabled do not include any provisions to address this structural deficit, nor do they propose the establishment of an independent labour complaints mechanism that would allow workers — particularly migrant workers — to report violations without the risk of immigration detention or deportation.
Labour rights are not a cost to be managed — they are a floor to be defended. Without decoupling work permits from employer sponsorship, even well-drafted protective provisions will remain inaccessible to the workers who need them most.