KUALA LUMPUR | Following the last announcement by Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Oct 20 and the International Trade and Industry Ministry on Oct 21 that employees in areas placed under the CMCO were to work from home with certain conditions in place, there has been a lot of confusion regarding the government’s order for managers and supervisors in states under conditional movement control order (MCO) to work from home.

Many were questioning whether the Covid-19 swab test was mandatory or otherwise and this has created a rather chaotic moment for those who are supposed to come to work but are staying at the Red Zone area(s).

HRnews.my has reached out to Ms Chloe Ying, an Industrial Relations Consultant from IREDGE. IREDGE is a consultancy firm specialized in labour laws to provide consultation services and solutions for local and international clients for comment and below is the summary from the FAQ by the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti).

 

PART 1: OPERATION OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

  1. The company doesn’t need to apply for any permit from MITI via CMS to operate during CMCO.
  2. Transportation of goods to CMCO area can be done with employee pass or employer permission letter.
  3. Travelling within the state under CMCO or to another state for work purpose is permissible with employee pass or employer permission letter.
  4. Employee attendance management is under the discretion of the company. However, employers are encouraged to allow the employees to work from home during the CMCO period.
  5. All company must adhere to the SOP set by MITI.

 

PART 2: WORK FROM HOME INSTRUCTION

  1. It is mandatory for the industry to commence work from home (WFH) for employees within the group of managerial or supervisory where If their task involves accounting, finance, administration, legislation, planning and ICT.
  2. Only 10% of employees who are within the group of managerial or supervisory can be in the office for a limited time of 4 hours from 10 am to 2 pm 3 times a week. For example, if there are 10 people in this group, only one person can be at the office at that time.
  3. The company can commence rotation system to decide the representative from the group of managerial or supervisory needed to be in the office.
  4. It is advisable to prepare a list of the employees involves with WFH and also in the company operating system for the authority reference when needed.
  5. The employer would have to provide a travel release letter for employees who are allowed to work throughout the CMCO period.
  6. Informal sector such as retail, food, plantation, agriculture, hawker, food stalls, restaurants, food courts, grocery stores and convenience stores are allowed to operate as usual with the compliance of CMCO SOP.
  7. Employees from transportation services such as public transport buses express, LRT, taxi, e-hailing and food delivery services can also work as usual.
  8. The definition of managerial or supervisory is subject to the company policy.
  9. It is compulsory for foreign workers in the construction sector, security guards and all workers from the red zone are symptomatic only to undergo the Covid-19 screening test.