Eight Nepali migrant workers have been expelled from their job in Malaysia for not showing up at work on a public holiday. They were employed by a balloon factory in Alor Gajah of Malacca.

Tekraj Limbu, who hails from Ranitar-8 of Panchthar, said he and seven of his colleagues were handed return tickets by their company manager for not reporting at work on Sunday. Altogether 48 factory workers had not showed up at work on that day as it was a public holiday and the company was not paying any extra money for working on public holidays as mentioned on their contract, he said.

Along with Tekraj, Anjan Rai of Khotang, Resham Ale Magar of Syangja, Yamakant Sapkota of Khotang, Harka Bahadur Limbu of Jhapa, Rajkumar Rai of Panchthar, Dhiren Singh Khawas of Sunsari and Surya Thapa Magar of Ramechhap were terminated from their job.

Sunday is a public holiday in Malaysia and it is up to the employees to decide whether to go to work on that day.

Tekraj said they decided not to go to work after the company told them they were not getting any extra pay for working on public holidays. He also claimed that Harka Bahadur Limbu was assaulted by one of the company representatives for demanding extra pay for working on public holidays.

Published On: 5 November 2012 | The Kathmandu Post