The new year is about to start fresh and great for Malaysians with the new government in hand. Here is some good news for the people especially the employees. Not just concerning and bringing initiatives for the locals but the new government has come up with strict amendments for the foreign employees as well.

Referring to the previous news, the Ministry of Human Resources announced the implementation of the working hours. Amendments that were set to implement the employee act and working hours have finally received inputs and updates from Human Resources Minister V. Sivakumar.

According to New Straits Times, the amendments will come into force on January 1, 2023.

The Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 which was passed during a parliament sitting in March 2022 includes a few key amendments.

The key amendments are

Reduced weekly working hours from 48 to 45 hours
Extension of maternity leave allocations from 60 days to 98 days
Seven-day paternity leave for married male employees.

“For foreign workers under Section 60K (4) of the Act, the employers must obtain approval from the director-general of the Department of Labour Peninsular Malaysia (JTKSM) to hire them”, said Sivakumar.

Previously applications were rejected due to the employers disobeying the labour legislation.

“Employers need such Section 60K (4) of the Act as an initial screening because it is effective in ensuring prospective employers employing foreign workers in this country have a clean record from the aspect of compliance to labour standards,” he said, adding that the country’s image and credibility have been tarnished by the forced labour issue at local companies producing gloves and oil palm.

Meanwhile, he added that the ministry had approved 700,000 applications to date for the recruitment of foreign workers in various sectors. Whereas, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim raised this issue during the cabinet meeting on 21 December and urged to speed up the process of getting foreign workers.

Various sectors that depend on foreign workers were affected by it.

“We from the Human Resources Ministry will work with the Home Ministry to ensure we have enough foreign workers. To date, we have approved 700,000 applications for the recruitment of foreign workers in various sectors. We will see if other sectors are also in need of foreign workers,” said the Human Resources Ministry.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told in a press conference after chairing the weekly cabinet meeting that the Human Resources and Home Ministries have been instructed to expedite the entry approvals of foreign workers, especially in the agriculture, service, and construction sectors. These three sectors, the premier said, must be given focus as a labour shortage in them could lead to production problems.

In another development, Sivakumar said the One Channel System (OCS) would still be under the ministry. The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) proposed that the recruitment and management of foreign workers including foreign domestic workers remain under the Human Resources Ministry to ensure business efficacy. The process of bringing in new foreign workers to Malaysia was revamped in April, with the ministry spearheading the management of the OCS.

Employees can now look forward to a better working schedule with great benefits starting next year. Isn’t this great news for a good start to the year?

Source: (1,2)