KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) has urged the government to delay implementing the amendments to the Employment Act 1995 from Sept 1, which it estimates will cost employers nationwide an extra RM110.99 billion per year.
In a statement, the federation’s president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman said economic growth in the second half of this year is expected to slow to between 5% and 6%, compared with 8.9% reported in the second quarter.
In light of the challenging economic situation ahead, the government should reconsider implementing the amendments, he added.
“Employers should be given time to reconsolidate and recover their businesses which were severely impacted due to the movement control orders implemented in 2020 and 2021 to contain the menace of Covid-19,” he said.
He added that some employers were already struggling to fully implement the new minimum wage of RM1,500 per month that took effect in May, which was estimated to cost them an additional RM14 billion per year.
“Employers generally strive to comply with the statutory requirements but there were situations where they resigned to the fact that they do not have the financial capacity to do so,” he said.
He added that employers will find it very difficult to absorb the additional RM110.99 billion cost per year, as supply chain issues from the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war continue to rock the global markets.
The MEF had derived the additional RM110.99 billion from the...
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