Cutting wages of those working from home unjustified, say unions

 

Employees are working from home at their own expense, not their employers’, says NUBE general secretary J Solomon.

PETALING JAYA: Two workers’ groups have objected to a proposal for reductions in the wages of employees working from home.

Commenting on a call by Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan, spokesmen for the National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) and the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) told FMT they did not believe that companies were suffering reductions in productivity or profits as a result of allowing their workers to work from home.

NUBE general secretary J Solomon said businesses would have ordered their workers to return to the workplace if their productivity or profits were affected.

Shamsuddin was recently quoted as saying that travel allowances could be revoked in addition to pay cuts of between 10% and 12%.

J Solomon.

But Solomon argued that companies whose employees were working from home were benefiting from reduced operational costs.

“Employees are working from home at their own expense, not their employers’. Hence, I don’t see the logic in employees taking any pay cut,” he said.

MTUC deputy president Mohd Effendy Abdul Ghani said reducing the wages of those working from home was unreasonable because they were helping their employers save on utilities, office space rental and other costs.

However, he said most workers were already looking forward to returning to their workplaces as they lacked resources at home.

Both Solomon and Effendy said MEF should be reminded that employers must start moving towards paying wages their workers could live on. - FMT