Minister: Amendments to Employment Act to take effect on Sept 1

The Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 will come into force on Sept 1, Human Resources Minister M Saravanan said.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Saravanan said the ministry was in the midst of ensuring that changes to the First Schedule of the Act are carefully worded so as not to confuse or mislead on the categories of employees that will fall under the Act’s ambit

Key amendments that were passed in the March Parliament sitting include the extension of maternity leave from 60 days to 98 days, restriction on the termination of pregnant employees and the introduction of paternity leave for married male workers.

One key amendment may rehabilitate Malaysia’s notoriety as being among the countries with the highest number of weekly work hours in the world.

When the amendments come into force, the maximum weekly hours of work expected of employees in Malaysia should drop from 48 hours to 45 hours.

Since the passing of the amendments in both Houses of Parliament, the Employment (Amendment) Act 2022, also known as Act 265, received royal assent on April 26 and was published in the Federal Government Gazette on May 10 this year.

Also, on Sept 1 the minister will issue an order to amend the changes to the First Schedule.

At present, the First Schedule categorises the various groups of workers as those who earn RM2,000 and below, workers with no fixed wages like those involved in manual labour and those who supervise them, workers who operate motor vehicles and domestic workers.

However, Saravanan confirmed that restrictions placed on domestic workers in the first schedule would remain, with no indication of changes in the near future.

The restriction placed on domestic workers has harmed local women more than migrants working in this sector, whose terms are reflected in their respective contracts.

Act 265 denies domestic workers basic rights enjoyed by all other workers and these include maternity leave, one day of rest per week, hours of work and even holidays.

Long wait for Sabah and Sarawak workers

Malaysian workers who punched the air with elation in March this year over Parliament’s passing of the most progressive amendments to the country’s 67-year-old labour legislation will have to wait a little more than two months for the changes to come into force.

However, workers in Sabah and Sarawak, who are governed by the Sabah and Sarawak Labour Ordinances, respectively, have a long wait.

In order for the amendments to Act 265 to be reflected in these two state labour ordinances, they would have to be tabled and passed in Parliament. However, this was not done in March.

Sarawak MTUC secretary Andrew Lo said Sarawak was lagging in labour law reforms.

“We call on both federal and state governments to negotiate and accelerate the amendments to the Sarawak Labour Ordinance,” he said.

Lo, who was addressing a press conference after a consultation meeting on the state’s labour ordinance, said there was an urgent need for the amendments to be reflected in Sarawak’s labour law.

He said the amendment bill should be tabled during the next Parliament sitting scheduled to commence on July 18.

The Labour Law Reform Coalition organised the consultation meeting and 40 participants from more than 20 Sarawak Trade Unions and NGOs across the state took part.

Describing workers from the two states as those who were left behind in labour reforms, the coalition’s co-chairperson, Gopal Kishnam, said workers across Malaysia must stand in solidarity with workers in Sabah and Sarawak.

“In the future, amendments to all three laws, Act 265 and the two Labour Ordinances must be tabled in Parliament as a ‘bundle’ to eliminate discriminatory practices,” Gopal said. - Mkini