Under the Employment Act 1955 (Amendment) 2022 the parliament has allocated a certain minimum amount of leave that covers all employees except for sections such as the provision of overtime or severance benefits.
Believe it or not, not all employees know about the holidays they are entitled to. So, today we will share 6 types of leave entitled to employees according to the r.
1. Weekly Day Off
Any employee should be allowed at least one day off each week. This is enshrined in the Employment Act 1955, Section 59. If the employer instructs the employee to work on that day, additional payment must be made (refer to Section 60(3) of the Employment Act 1955).
You can complain to the Department of Labor if you are an employee and never get a rest day every week. You should be aware of the latest amendments to the act so that employers do not arbitrarily use your labor for free!
2. Public Holidays
Do you remember the holiday in conjunction with Chinese New Year 2023?
The Chinese New Year public holiday falls on January 22, which is on Sunday, so the holiday on that day is changed to the following day (Monday). However, since Monday is also a public holiday for Chinese New Year, it was changed to the next day, which is Tuesday.
Various issues and questions arise regarding this Chinese New Year holiday, but it is fine if all employees comply with the act that the government has set.
What day is a public holiday or a public holiday for employees? For your information, section 60D in the act provides for 11 paid public holidays, and among 5 of them are:
- Independence Day;
- Yang Di-Pertuan Agong’s Birthday;
- Birthday of the Head of State or Government;
- Labor Day; and
- Malaysia Day.
In addition, according to Section 8 of the Holidays Act 1951, employees are entitled to public holidays on any day set in the year.
3. Annual Leave
According to Section 60E (3B) contained in the Employment Act 1955, the number of annual leaves allocated is invalid if the employee fails to attend work without a reasonable reason of 10% of the total attendance should be for the current year of service.
The same section also explains the amount of annual leave that employees are entitled to, namely:
- 8 days for employees who have worked for less than 2 years;
- 12 days for employees who have completed 2 years working with the employer, but less than 5 years; and
- 16 days for service exceeding 5 years or more.
4. Sick Leave
Remember, if you get sick, you are entitled to paid leave. According to Section 6F, Employment Act 1955, employees are entitled to receive sick leave as stated below:
- Service less than 2 years, 14 days;
- Complete 2 years but less than 5 years, 18 days;
- 5 years and over, 22 days.
In addition, if an employee needs treatment in a hospital, he is entitled to paid leave not exceeding 60 days. It should be noted that this sick leave entitlement cannot be prorated if the employee leaves the company during the year.
5. Maternity leave
The Labor (Amendment) Bill 2021 has approved clause 12 which is the extension of maternity leave for pregnant women employees by 98 days. They are also entitled to maternity allowance at the normal rate of pay according to the eligibility conditions as follows:
- Children do not exceed 5 people;
- In service for not less than 90 days (3 months) within 9 months of pregnancy;
- Employed within 4 months before giving birth;
- Notify the start date of childbirth within 60 days before (if there is no notification, the employer has the right to block the maternity allowance);
- The gestational age is not less than 22 weeks (5 months and 14 days) – either giving birth, miscarrying, alive or dead.
6. Paternity Leave
If female employees are entitled to maternity leave, their spouses, male workers, are entitled to paternity leave. This leave is special for male employees to take care of their wives and newly born children with enough time.
Furthermore, this paternity leave is critical in helping the emotional control of the wife as well as showing responsibility as the head of the family.
According to amendment 60FA of the act which has been approved in the Dewan Rakyat, married male employees are entitled to paternity leave of 7 days at their normal rate of pay provided that:
- Limited to 5 abstinence times;
- Served with the same employer for at least 12 months before the start of the leave; and
- Inform the employer of the pregnancy 30 days from the expected confinement or as early as possible after birth.
Determination of Leave Eligibility in MySyarikat
Are you clear about leave entitlements for employees according to the Employment Act 1955?
Other holidays such as emergency leave, study leave, volunteer leave, and so on are not enacted in the act. The holidays are not specified in the act but if you want to check if your employer sets the holidays, you can refer to your company’s policy.
Now, determining eligibility and applying for your company leave will be easier if you use our service at MySyarikat.
Everything is just at your fingertips. Book a ‘Demo Session‘ with us now and experience the MySyarikat system yourself!
