Working on it: Minister on 59th place in work-life balance index

The government is committed to ensuring Malaysians have a healthy, safe, and more humane workplace, said Human Resources Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong.

He was commenting on the Global Life-Work Balance Index, released by global human resource services company Remote, which placed Malaysia at 59th out of 60 countries.

Putrajaya has been making various improvements, he said, including ratifying the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Convention, also known as C155, on June 11.

Sim said the move was in line with enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Act 2022 from June 1.

“Before the amendment, the Act applied only to 10 economic sectors.

“Now, under the amendment effective June 1, it applies to all economic sectors to ensure a safer and healthier workplace environment,” he said.

Sim was speaking at a press conference after the launch of the Neurodiversity Inclusion Impact Programme in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said that this year, his ministry, in collaboration with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) targeted to train over 10,000 Occupational Mental Health First Aid providers in the private and public sectors.

“This is to ensure our workplace is safe and healthy, not only physically, but also balancing mental health,” he said.

Sim said the enforcement of the Employment Act (Amendment) 2022 from Jan 1 last year, which includes provisions on anti-discrimination and flexible working hours, was part of the government’s efforts to ensure a healthy work environment.

Global life-work balance index

The Global Life-Work Balance Index recently reviewed the 60 highest GDP nations across the world.

It ranked Malaysia 59th, with an index score of 27.51 out of 100.

The three highest-ranking countries were New Zealand (79.35), Spain (75.55), and France (75.34).

Asean countries included Singapore (19th), Thailand (33rd), Vietnam (35th), Philippines (36th), and Indonesia (51st).

The lowest-ranked country was Nigeria.

- Bernama