Worker of 1Malaysia

So a call centre employee from Philipines is more in favour than say a brain surgeon from UK where they get to bypass all Malaysian immigration and labour regulations.

Disgrunted Malaysian Employeee C/O CSC

Open letter to S. Subramaniam, Human Resource Minister

Dear Minister,

I am a citizen of Malaysia who pays my taxes and to date still paying my PTPTN loan for my education that I received locally. I recently joined CSC (a MNC based in Malaysia) as a Level 1 Technical Helpdesk. I work the night shift mostly just to qualify for the RM500 which is the night shift allowance.

Recently I was made to work on a 12 hour shift without even giving me the choice of accepting the 12 hour shift pattern. When I asked, I was told that the company had the right to place their employees in any shift they like as long as it does not cross the 48 hours work hours a week. Is this true? Don’t the employees have a say in the number of work hours they choose to work for, as long as it is within the law?

When I first started work I was told by my employers that for the first 3 months of my service, my leaves earned will be frozen as I am still in probation. During the recent Raya holidays in August, I was still in training but I was not allowed to enjoy that holiday. CSC had made it mandatory for all muslims or non-muslims to come in even though we are not part of the operations (taking calls) yet.

I did not complain and endured it. But when I got my salary I was shocked. The job agency with whom I had signed the employment contract has their own method of calculating wages paid on Public Holidays. When I enquired, I was told employees earning more than RM 2000 is not entitled to OT claims. When signing of the contract I was told that my salary would be pro rated by the day and the OT will be calculated based on that, but instead a flat rate of RM 15 per hour is calculated for hours worked on a Public Holiday.

Another job agency with whom my colleagues are attached to has another formula of calculation all together. RM 15 per hours from midnight to 6.00am and RM 13 per hour before midnight. So if someone is to work the night shift hours before midnight is multiplied by RM13, hours worked after midnight is multiplied by RM15.

Having said that, I kept at building my career without kicking a fuss about my salary. Next, I was asked to work by forgoing the short breaks I am entitled to. At one point I even got my meal break after 6 hours of work non-stop taking calls from arrogant and rude Americans. But when I come in for work 2 minutes late I get a “coach-log” (three of it warrants a warning letter). But “minutes” taken up after my work hours because I get stuck on a long call with a customer is not counted.

The management is allowed to bend and break the rules but as employees we are not even given any leeway. We are supposed to keep customers happy and keep the calls short and take more calls. Unrealistic demands are made on us employees and no encouragement or proper guidance is provided for us employees to get the job done efficiently.The 1st level management that is made up of operation managers, subject matter experts and team leads are not professional, unhelpful and arrogant. They don’t give a rat’s ass about the employees but the employees are supposed to care if there are many calls in the queue or SLAs are dropping.

We only get our salary after our timesheet is approved by some foreigner who goes by the name Brad Neave, who has complete disregard for the laws of our country. If he does not approve the timesheet within a given time, we don’t get paid. The agency that handles our payroll does not bother with getting the timesheet done. Apparently it is our responsibility to get the operations manager to approve our timesheets. So what is the job of the HR/payroll department then?

During my training period, the trainer was very prejudicial. I was not allowed to ask any questions. If I did the trainer would ridicule me in front of my colleagues. The trainer’s idea of training was to make sure no one asks any questions. If anyone is to ask a question it will be answered with another question eg. “What do you think?”, “Don’t you still get it?”, “How can you still ask me this?” etc. Fed up with being treated this way, I approached the operations manager, Brad (foreigner) only to be made more like a fool. He tells me that it’s not right for me to come to him and I should have sorted things out with the trainer (whom I am having a problem with in the first place).

Last but not least, CSC is hiring foreigners by the droves for level 1 helpdesk positions when here in Malaysia we have so many unemployed Malaysians who are graduates. These foreigners who come here to work are no IT experts that can’t be found here in Malaysia. These foreigners are call centre staff from abroad. These foreigners are brought over with a social visit pass (tourist visa). Apparently, it’s “converted” to a valid Malaysian work permit after they get here. How is that possible?

I have relatives from abroad from countries like Australia, UK and South Africa who are professionals like doctors, engineers and specialized consultants. Even they had to have a calling visa before they are even engaged in any employment. So a call centre employee from Philipines is more in favour than say a brain surgeon from UK where they get to bypass all Malaysian immigration and labour regulations. We even have a Philipino team lead in CSC here but not even one Malaysian woman as a team lead. So CSC is running some boy’s club in CSC. Foreigners who come here enjoy the benefits of our country and hospitality whereas we Malaysians are treated worse than factory production operators, where like in school we have to even ask permission to take a piss.

Ministers and higher officials in the loop, please excuse my language in my mail as I am very disgruntled and angry with what has come to the plight of Malaysians working with foreign companies that come here for cheap but quality labour. They preach democracy and equality in their land and other countries at war, but they have not changed from their colonial mentality. We locals are coloured dogs for them still, the only differences are the suits we wear these days and we no longer live on trees.

I am not able to reveal my identity as I know I will be victimized by the management, after all I am only a level 1 helpdesk and a Malaysian citizen not some fancy foreigner who does not know their work. But it does not matter who I am, there are thousands of fellow Malaysians like me who are in the same boat and are suffering in silence, to protect our ricebowl.