Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidi Zainal
SEREMBAN: Civil servants will be allowed to apply up to five days unrecorded leave if their children are afflicted with communicable diseases such as dengue haemorrhagic fever or measles and need to be quarantined.
The rule comes into effect on Jan 1.
They will also be allowed to stay at home to care for their children if they come down with hand, foot and mouth disease, chickenpox, diphtheria and malaria.
“The parents will be allowed to go on leave for up to five days as long as the child is below 18 years of age; or below 21 if they are still pursuing tertiary education,” Public Service director-general Tan Sri Mohamad Zabidi Zainal said in a directive.
The age limit, he said, would not apply if the sick child was physically handicapped or mentally challenged.
He said the ruling was to enable parents to be with their sick children and to nurse them back to good health.
The parent could apply to be away from work for a longer period if the child was still certified to be sick after the five-day period, he said.
The medical examination can either be conducted at a government or private health facility.
Mohamad Zabidi said parents taking care of a step child or a legally adopted child would also be eligible for the unrecorded leave.
“The ruling will also cover all employees in the state civil service, statutory bodies and local councils,” he said.
During the tabling of Budget 2017, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said civil servants would be entitled to a “quarantine leave” if their children were ill.
When contacted yesterday, Cuepacs president Datuk Azih Muda said the ruling would strengthen family bond.
It would motivate civil servants to be more productive at work, he added.
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