Amendments To The Employment Act 1955 (Gazetted 2022)

There are some significant adjustments in the Malaysian HR world this 1st September 2022. For starters, the term “employee” will be amended to apply across the board, while daily and hourly benefits and guidelines will undergo major reforms.

Here at vStaff we have curated official information for your reference, and will be following up with opinions from industry experts for the benefit of employers and HR leaders across our nation. Our Malaysian Employment (Amendment) Act 2022, which amends the Employment Act 1955 (‘the Act’, or EA1955), is set to take effect on 1 September 2022 (Thursday). The Employment (Amendment of First Schedule) Order 2022 (‘the Order’), which was gazetted on 15 August 2022, will come into effect on the same date.

Date of Royal Assent :  26 April 2022
Date of Publication in the Gazette :  10 May 2022
Enforcement Effective :  01 September 2022

Revision of the First Schedule was dated 12 August 2022 and takes effect on 1 September 2022. From Federal Legislation: Employment Act 1955

1. NORMAL WORKING HOURS

Normal working hours reduced from
48 hours → 45 hours per week

Ref.: Section 60A(1) and 60C

2. MEDICAL LEAVE

Medical leave entitlement increased from
60 days → 74 ~ 82 days per year (depending on the Y.O.S.)

Ref.: Section 60F

3. MATERNITY LEAVE

Maternity leave increase from
60 days → 98 days 

Section 37

4. PROTECTION AGAINST TERMINATION ON PREGNANCY GROUNDS

Where a female employee is pregnant or is suffering from an illness arising out of her pregnancy, It shall be an offence for her employer to terminate her services

Ref.: Section 41A

5. PATERNITY LEAVE

Seven (7) consecutive days in respect of each confinement. Restricted to five (5) confinements irrespective of the number of spouses

Conditions:-

  1. Legal marriage
  2. The male staff has worked at least 12 months with the same employer
  3. Staff need to inform employer at least 30 days before confinement or as early as possible after the birth

Ref.: Section 60FA

6. FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENT (FWA)

Employees may request a flexible working arrangement from their employer in writing to change the hours, days, or location of their employment.

The employer shall inform the employee in writing of the employer’s approval or refusal of the application under subsection (1) and in the case of a refusal, the employer shall state the ground of such refusal within 60 days from the date of application.

Ref.: xiic- SECTION 60P & 60Q

7. FOREIGN WORKERS

Employer must get prior approval from Director General of Labour before recruiting foreign worker.

Fined not more than MYR 100,000 or not more that 5 years imprisonment or both if fail to comply.

Ref.: Section 60K

8. PROTECTION FROM DISCRIMINATION

The Director-General (DG) of Labour has the authority to investigate and provide rulings about issues involving discrimination between employer an employee. 

Fine not more than MYR 50,000 if found guilty.

Ref.: Section 69F

9. SEXUAL HARASSMENT AWARENESS

Employers are required to publish a notice to employees against sexual harassment in the workplace.

Ref.: Section 81H

10. EMPLOYEE (in ref to Schedule 1)

Current
Any person, irrespective of his occupation, who has entered into a contract of service with an employer under which such person’s wages do not exceed two thousand ringgit a month.

New / Replaced with
Any person who has entered into a contract of service added

Added with
Not withstanding Paragraph 1, the person who wages exceed

RM 4000/month

11. APPRENTICESHIP CONTRACT

Current
Shall not be less than 2 years in the course of which the apprentice is bound to work in the employer’s service

New
Shall be a minimum period of 6 months and a maximum period of 24 months

12. CALCULATION OF WAGES FOR INCOMPLETE MONTHS

18a. Notwithstanding section 60i, an employee who is employed on a monthly rate of pay and has not completed a whole month of service-

  1. where he commenced employment after the first day of the month;
  2. where his employment was terminated before the end of the month;
  3. where he took leave of absence without pay for one or more days of the month; or
  4. where he took leave of absence by reason of having been called up for national service under the National Service Act 1952 [Act 425], to present himself for national service training as required under the National Service Training Act 2003 [Act 628] or to comply with any other written law relating to national service,

Monthly wages

X


No. of days eligible in the wage period

——————————-  

No. of days of the particular wages period

Ref.: Section 18a4

13. FORCED LABOR

Any employer who threatens, deceives or forces an employee to do any activity, service or work and prevents that employee from proceeding beyond the place or area where such activity, service or work is done, commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both

Ref.: Section 90b

What are you waiting for?

Motivate your team today with vRewards!

Leave A Comment