Work from home: Employers cannot force workers to take annual, unpaid leave

Employers are prohibited from forcing or ordering their workers to take annual or unpaid leave following the work-from-home directive which came into effect today, during the conditional movement control order (MCO) period.

Human Resource Minister M Saravanan in a statement today also stressed that salary payments were to be made as usual despite the directive.

He said this was in line with the directive and statement issued by the ministry during the enforcement of the MCO in March.

“However, employers can discuss with their workers on any action or decision taken in the interest of both parties,” he said.

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Tuesday said public and private sector employees at the management and supervisory levels in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Selangor, Sabah and Labuan were directed to work from home effective Oct 22 to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya have been placed under the conditional MCO from Oct 14 to Oct 27, Sabah from Oct 13 to Oct 26 and Labuan from Oct 17 to Oct 30.

Employers can contact the Manpower Department, Peninsular Malaysia at 03-8886 2352 / 03-8886 2409 / 03-8888 9111 for enquiries.

- Bernama