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KUALA LUMPUR: The government is in the final stages of amending the Employment Act of 1955 to increase maternity leave and provide for paternity leave, says Vice Minister of Human Resources Awang Hashim.
“The ministry is in the final stages of amending the law, which will see the creation of several new provisions.
“These include the prohibition of discrimination against employees, increased maternity leave, termination of employment due to pregnancy, flexible working hours and paternity leave,” she said in response to a question posed by Nurul Izzah. Anwar (PH-Lembah Pantai) at Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Nov 12)
Awang added that the ministry had made comprehensive engagements with stakeholders to get their views on the proposed amendments.
“A technical committee was also created within the framework of the National Labor Advisory Council that has met to discuss in detail the proposed amendments to the law,” he said.
He noted that the proposed amendments are being further examined by the Attorney General’s Office.
When asked whether job applicants will also be protected under the Employment Law, Awang said no, adding that only those who have an employment relationship and contract with their employers will receive protection under this law.
Awang, however, did not respond to Nurul’s question on whether the government plans to implement automatic registration of gig economy workers under the Social Security Organization (Socso).
He noted that only 7% of some 400,000 workers in the gig economy had voluntarily signed up for protection under Socso.
Amendments to the Employment Law to increase maternity leave to 90 days were to have been submitted to Parliament in March by the former Pakatan Harapan administration.
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