Govt advised to subsidise wages for maternity leave

SHAH ALAM - Employers’ association suggests the government to subsidise wages for workers on maternity leave after the Employment Act 1955 (Amendment 2022) on Jan 1.

Malaysian Agricultural Producers’ Association (MAPA) Director Mohamad Aidong said the suggested subsidy should at least be 40 per cent from the wages of the worker to aid in easing the burden of employers following the increase in maternity leave from 60 to 98 days.

“The previous maternity leave was 45 days and it was increased to 60 days.

“Starting on Jan 1, this will increase drastically to 98 days. It should be raised in increments so it wouldn’t affect employers.

“We hope the additional maternity leave days that will be implemented should be given subsidies from the government to benefit women,” he told Sinar Harian on Tuesday.

Mohamad said the amendment would claim for employers to pay higher costs in hiring employees where the business position is still unstable because the economy has yet to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said employers in the country hoped for the implementation of the Act to be postponed for the time being.

“The economy is still unstable, and this causes many employers to struggle in stabilising their businesses. In fact, the world is expected to face an economic recession next year.

“How will the employers increase job opportunities in this case. If possible, we would ask the government to delay the amendment's implementation until the economy was truly stable,” he said.

Mohamad suggested for the government to provide electricity tariff subsidies to all industries.

“Electricity subsidies can no longer be given to certain companies because of the current situation, the subsidy could aid companies in ensuring the survival of their business.

“If there are no electricity subsidies and the cost of employing labour increases, operations cost would increase and force the employers to bear the costs,” he said.