KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 11): My E.G. Services Bhd (MyEG) has been appointed to manage the rehiring programme involving illegal foreign workers.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, MyEG said it had received a letter of appointment from the Home Affairs Ministry today in relation to the “management of illegal foreign workers for the rehiring programme.”

The company said the letter of appointment will supersede its earlier appointment to register illegal workers announced on Sept 4 last year, with new conditions to replace previous terms. The registration of foreign workers project would end in March 4 this year.

MyEG did not reveal what are the new terms and conditions of its appointment.

MyEG said the management of the rehiring programme has no fixed value, as it is dependent on the number of illegal foreign workers who are registered successfully.

The project will take effect from next Monday, Feb 15, until Aug 15, 2016 and is expected to contribute positively to the company’s earnings for the financial years ending June 30, 2016 and June 30, 2017 respectively.

MyEG had announced earlier that it was hired to register illegal workers in the country, saying it is expected to increase the total number of legal foreign workers locally, hence increasing the fees generated from the online renewal of foreign workers' permit.

Under the revised Budget 2016, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had announced that the government will implement a rehiring programme to provide opportunities for foreign workers without permits to be given valid work permits.

This was in addition to the government’s plan to streamline management of the foreign worker system, which also sees the restructuring of annual levies for foreign workers into two categories only, which excludes a foreign domestic maid category.

The first category for manufacturing, construction and service sectors will see a higher annual levy of RM2,500 for each worker; while the second category involving the plantation and agriculture industries will see a higher levy of RM1,500, from RM590 for each foreign employee.

The higher levies are expected to add RM2.5 billion to the government's coffers.

MyEG shares closed one sen or 0.44% lower at RM2.24 today, for a market capitalisation of RM5.38 billion.