Work from home: Only public sector, industries under Miti affected by directive, says Ismail Sabri

PUTRAJAYA: Only those in the public sector and industries under the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) are affected by the work-from-home directive in areas under conditional movement control order starting Thursday (Oct 22), says Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

The Defence Minister said workers in essential services, security as well as the informal sector are not affected by this directive.

“Workers who are employed in the retail business, restaurants, grocery and convenience stores as well as in the plantation and agriculture sectors can work as normal.

“Police and armed forces personnel, employees of public transport companies, taxi drivers, e-hailing and delivery services are also not affected by the directive, ” he said on Wednesday (Oct 21).

On Tuesday, the government had issued a work-from-home directive to a total of one million workers in the industry and public sectors in Selangor, Sabah, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.

The order is aimed at limiting movement and contact among workers to cut the chain of Covid-19 infections.

Ismail Sabri said the public service department director-general and Miti had come out with a list of those affected by the work from home directive.

He said Miti had a meeting with representatives from industry players to explain the matter, and had asked the respective associations and bodies to explain the government's directive to their members.

The work-from-home directive will be in place for as long as the conditional MCO is enforced on these areas.

Sabah’s order is until Oct 26 while the order for Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya ends on Oct 27 and in Labuan, it will finish on Oct 30.