PETALING JAYA| Retailers have urged human resources minister V Sivakumar to further postpone the implementation of amendments to the Employment Act, pending a dialogue on the matter.
In a letter to the minister, five associations representing retailers expressed concerns that the enforcement of the amendments would negatively impact the retail industry, which they added had only just begun to recover following the Covid-19 pandemic.
In calling for a second deferment to its implementation, they said retailers were suffering from “severe” labour shortage, supply chain interruptions, high inflation and massive overtime costs.
“The increase of the salary ceiling from RM2,001 to RM4,000 for employees’ overtime payment entitlements will have an enormous impact on manpower costs and automatically result in a humongous hike in overtime payment.
“This is further compounded by the severe shortage of labour, thus forcing overtime work onto the inadequate workforce,” they said in the joint letter.
They also opposed the 45-hour work week, saying the existing 48-hour week was “ideal” in view of the ongoing labour shortage.
The groups also said giving women 98 days maternity leave would disrupt work efficiency and also put women at a disadvantage in terms of employability.
“The main driver for this long leave is purportedly due to the severe shortage of maids suitable for infant care making it a problem for mothers to return to work.
“The push for the establishment of more creche and childcare is the ultimate and more effective solution.”
They added that the provision for flexible working hours was also not suitable for the retail sector, citing its core trading hours of 10am to 10pm.
Describing work-from-home (WFH) as “not applicable” to their industry, the groups said flexible hours and WFH was likely to be abused by non-productive workers, resulting in understaffing, among other things.
“We earnestly appeal to the minister’s office to expeditiously consider our situation as mentioned and seek his indulgence for a dialogue to better understand the situation and seek more practical solutions.
“This will enable us to confidently pursue the recovery process with the best opportunity for revival, survival and sustainability,” they said.
The letter was signed off by the Bumiputra Retailers Organisation (BRO), Federation of Malaysian Business Associations (FMBA), Malaysia Retailers Association (MRA), Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA), and the Malaysia Shopping Malls Association (PPK).
The amendments to the Employment Act are aimed at safeguarding the welfare of workers and to bring local regulations in line with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention.
It was initially meant to be implemented on Sept 1 but was later postponed to Jan 1.
