Wednesday June 21, 2006
60 days for mums
By JANE RITIKOS
KUALA LUMPUR: All working women should be entitled to a minimum 60 days’ maternity leave and to deny them this privilege would be discriminatory.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said the provision in the Employment Act 1955 on maternity leave should be revised because it was outdated, as it only applied to women earning RM1,500 and below.
This is because of the definition of “employees” under the First Schedule of the Act, which reads in part: Any person, irrespective of occupation, who has entered into a contract of service with an employer under which such person’s wages do not exceed one thousand five hundred ringgit a month ...
Shahrizat said it was time the issue was tackled and the law made uniform in line with the Constitution which provided for legal equality for all.
While it did not affect women in the public sector because civil servants were entitled to 60 days’ maternity leave, the matter concerned those in the private sector, she said.
“Nowadays, a lot more women are working and also married. More women are also earning beyond RM1,500 a month,” she told The Star yesterday.
Shahrizat said she would meet with Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn soon to urge him to look into this discrepancy.
“The private sector should emulate the public sector in giving their female staff at least 60 days’ maternity leave as a social responsibility,” she said.
Based on 2004 figures, there were 3.73 million women in the workforce, of which 1.08 million were married women serving in the private sector.
The National Council of Women’s Organisations lauded Shahrizat’s initiative to push for changes to the law on maternity leave, saying that even if only a few employers gave their workers the full 60 days, legal protection for women should be upheld.
“The first two months is crucial for mothers to breastfeed their newborns, which we encourage,” said NCWO deputy president Datuk Ramani Gurusamy.
The Malaysian Employers Federation, however, did not see any necessity for legislation.
MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said that from the federation’s annual survey of selected companies, 99.9% of employers were “very kind-hearted” and gave their staff 60 days’ maternity leave.
“I don’t think it should be made a law to cover all sectors because employment relations should be flexible,” he said.
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