KUALA LUMPUR | The government is in the final stages of amending the Employment Act 1955 to increase maternity leave and provide for paternity leave, says Deputy Human Resources Minister Awang Hashim.
“The ministry is in the final stages of amending the Act which will see the creation of several new provisions.
“These include prohibition on discrimination against employees, increasing maternity leave, termination of employment due to pregnancy, flexible working time and paternity leave,” he said when replying to a question raised by Nurul Izzah Anwar (PH-Lembah Pantai) in Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Nov 12).
Awang added that the ministry had carried out comprehensive engagements with stakeholders to get their views on the proposed amendments.
“A technical committee was also set up under the National Labour Advisory Council which has met to discuss in detail the proposed amendments to the Act,” he said.
He noted that the proposed amendments are being looked at further by the Attorney General’s Chambers.
Asked if job seekers will also be protected under the Employment Act, Awang said no, adding that only those with an employment relationship and contract with their employers will get the protection under this law.
Awang, however, did not answer Nurul’s question on whether the government plans to implement automatic registration of gig-economy workers under the Social Security Organisation (Socso).
She noted that only 7% out of some 400,000 gig-economy workers had voluntarily signed up for protection under Socso.
Amendments to the Employment Act to increase maternity leave to 90 days were to have been tabled in Parliament in March by the former Pakatan Harapan administration.
