A committee was started by a group of employees from Konsortium Bas Ekspres Semenanjung (KBES) (Peninsular Express Bus Consortium) in Taiping to seek answers towards issues of delayed salary payments and employees’ provident fund (EPF) contributions.
The committee, named KBES Employees’ Committee (JKPKBES Taiping), comprises more than 30 workers under various sections of the company.
According to a statement dated today on June 30, an official complaint has been lodged by the committee to the Labour Department in Ipoh.
Representative of the committee, Mohd Fakhrul Rahman, a 35-year-old bus driver of KBES of nearly 10 years, stated that their employers have not disclosed issues of delayed payments and EPF contributions to them in a timely manner.
“We tried reaching out to our company management but the responses we got are unsatisfactory,” he lamented. “Besides that, some other colleagues have not received the one-off payment from the Wage Subsidy Programme under the Social Security Organisation (PERKESO) allocated by the federal government.
“Furthermore, we realised that the cut from other colleagues’ salaries have not been contributed to the EPF by our employers for about 20 months now, even though it was mentioned in their monthly pay statements,” Mohd Fakhrul added. “Hopefully, we will be able to obtain some answers for all of the issues we’re facing from the Labour Department today.
Ramahkrishnan Gopalnaidu, 65, another bus driver of KBES for six years, has a similar sentiment.
“I just hope that we get our salaries back,” he expressed. “Our employers also owe us an explanation as to why they withheld our EPF contributions.
“Evading our queries is not going to solve the problem,” Ramahkrishnan added. “It’s tough times we’re living in now. I wish the company would just stand out and liaise with us openly.”
Nur Hafsah, 24, who joined the company last year, bemoaned the company’s treatment towards workers.
“My salary has been unpaid since April,” she said. “It has amounted to around RM5,000.
“When I informed the human resource of KBES that I wanted to apply for unpaid leave in May, they threatened me by saying that I would not be paid for the month of June,” Nur noted. “This is unfair towards employees who’ve worked hard to earn their pay.”
Chris Teh
