On 25 October 2021, the Malaysian government announced long awaited amendments to the Employment Act 1955 (EA) and tabled the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2021 (Bill) for its first reading in Parliament. The amendments were proposed to ensure compliance with international standards and practices, to provide for protection against discrimination and forced labour and to provide for maternity benefits. This update looks at the key proposals in the Bill.
Coverage
The narrow scope of employees covered under the EA is retained under the Bill. Currently, the EA defines an "employee" to mean any person included in the First Schedule of the EA or in respect of whom the Minister of Human Resources makes an order under section 2(3) or section 2A of the EA. This includes the following categories of employees (EA Employees):
Maternity Leave and Maternity Protection
All female employees are entitled to 60 consecutive days of maternity leave. The Bill proposes to increase the period of maternity leave to 90 days.
The Bill also proposes to prohibit an employer from terminating the employment of, or giving notice of termination to a pregnant employee or an employee suffering from an illness arising out of pregnancy, except on...
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