Employment of Workers
In Malaysia, foreign workers can be employed in the manufacturing, construction, plantation, agricultural, services and domestic help sector.
Services sector consists of eleven sub sectors: (restaurant, cleaning services, cargo handling, launderette, caddy in golf club, barber, wholesale/retail, textile, metal/scraps/recycle activities, welfare homes and hotel/resort island.
Only nationals from the specified countries below are allowed to work in the selected sectors:
| Approved Sectors | Nationals of: |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing, Plantation, Agriculture, Construction, Services Sector | Indonesia, Cambodia, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines (male only), Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan |
| Services (cooks, wholesale/retail, barber, metal/scraps/ recycle, textile) Construction (fixing of high voltage cable only) Agriculture Plantation | India |
Approval is based on the merits of each case and subject to conditions that will be determined from time to time. Applications to employ foreign workers will only be considered when efforts to find qualified local citizens and permanent residents have failed.
An annual levy on foreign workers is imposed as follows:
| Approved Sectors | Annual Levy (Peninsular)RM | Annual Levy (Sabah/Sarawak)RM |
| Manufacturing | 1,850 | 1,010 |
| Construction | 1,850 | 1,010 |
| Plantation | 640 | 590 |
| Agricultural | 640 | 410 |
| Services | 1,850 | 1,490 |
| Services ( Island resorts ) | 1,850 | 1,010 |
All applications for foreign workers should be submitted to the One Stop Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs except for applications for foreign domestic helpers which should be submitted to Malaysia’s Immigration Department.
For further information on employment of foreign workers, please visit the Ministry of Home Affairs website at www.moha.gov.my
