PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s central organisation of private sector employers has reminded companies to facilitate time off for their workers to vote on polling day.
Employers who do not observe Nov 19, which falls on a Saturday, as a day off must grant reasonable paid time off to their workers who are registered voters to cast their ballots, said Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) president Datuk Dr Syed Hussin Syed Husman.
The voting time on that day is from 8am to 6pm in the peninsula and from 7.30am to 5.30pm in Sabah and Sarawak.
Those rostered to work on the first shift (7am – 3pm), second shift (3pm – 11pm) or third shift (11pm – 7am), should experience little difficulty in fulfilling their duty to vote, without seeking any paid time off from work, he said.
“In places where the polling booths close earlier than 5.30pm, first shift employees (7am – 3pm) must be given reasonable paid time off to cast their votes that day,” he said.
Syed Hussin said office and factory employees who observe standard working hours, either between 9am and 5pm or 8.30am and 4.30 pm, may be hard-pressed to get to their polling stations on time.
“In such circumstances, employers may consider one or a combination of the following arrangements for the convenience of their employees: allowing them to report for work say two hours late; granting them a two-hour extension of their lunch break or perhaps releasing them from work two hours early.”
In a statement, he cited the Election Offences Act, which stipulates that employers are obliged to allow their workers a reasonable period of paid time off for voting.
For employees who are postal voters, he said reasonable time off should be granted to those working on that day to enable them to cast their postal votes.
“In applying for and granting paid time off, reasonableness is to be expected from both employers and employees,” he added.
