FORTY-FOUR reports have been received in relation to employers who had barred pregnant workers from taking their 98-day maternity leave as at Oct 31, says Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud.
He added that 28 of the complaints were genuine while the remainder were considered baseless.
“The employers involved have been reminded of the requirement for their staff to be given maternity leave. All the cases were resolved with the workers involved allowed to go on their maternity leave,” he said.
Mustapha said employers who do not permit pregnant employees to go on the 98-day maternity leave would be asked by the authorities to take remedial action.
Failure to do so will result in investigation papers opened and the bosses can be charged in court and fined RM50,000 if found guilty.
Mustapha was responding to M. Kulasegaran (PH-Ipoh Barat) on steps taken by the government to ensure all MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprise companies) abided by the 98-day maternity leave policy that came into effect on Jan 1.
Kulasegaran had also asked how many employers had failed to abide by the policy.
Separately, Mustapha said there was a specific provision in the Labour Act 1955 that did not allow employers to terminate the employment of workers who were pregnant and sick, unless there were instances of misconduct or the business had closed.
“If the employment of a pregnant worker is terminated, the onus is on the employer to prove it was not due to her pregnancy.
“Employers cannot take advantage of an employee’s pregnancy to terminate their jobs. There has to be a reason for this,” he said.
He added that errant employers can face a maximum fine of RM5,000 if found guilty.
He was replying to Dr Abd Ghani Ahmad (PN-Jerlun), who asked about the possibility of employers replacing staff who were on their 98-day maternity leave. He added that such a move is a form of discrimination against new mothers.
Earlier, Mustapha said the Labour Act 1955 (Amendment 2022) allocated a 98-day maternity leave the International Labour Organisation Convention.
He said 183 awareness programmes on the Labour Act were carried out as at Oct 31 this year.
