PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) proposes that new mothers have the option of sharing their maternity leave entitlement with their husbands.
MEF president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman said there are international models that Malaysia could look to for inspiration concerning parental leave policies.
"Spouses, upon mutual consent, have the option to allocate a portion of the wife's maternity leave to the husband," he said in a statement Thursday (Aug 15).
He specified that such shared parental leave must be utilised within the first year after the child's birth and can be taken either in one continuous period or in separate blocks of weeks.
He recommended that the Malaysian government should contemplate the introduction of shared parental leave to more evenly distribute caretaking duties between spouses.
According to 2022 data, Malaysia had a workforce of 15.16 million, with male labour force participation at 81.5% and a total of 423,124 births recorded.
The average monthly salary amounted to RM3,212, which translates to a daily wage of RM107.07 per employee.
The financial implication for employers, calculated based on a single day of paternity leave taken by 344,846 husbands, reaches a total of RM36.92mil.
For eligible husbands to take a full week of paternity leave, the cost would escalate to approximately RM258.45mil annually.
The MEF said that the current obligation for employers to cover seven days of paid paternity leave does not necessitate any further extension.
Globally, the costs for maternity leave are generally covered by social security systems or government funds, whereas in Malaysia, the private sector bears the full expense of 98 days of maternity leave, costing around RM2.47bil per year, in addition to RM258.45mil for paternity leave.
The federation suggests that now is an opportune time to re-evaluate these practices and recommends that the Social Security Organisation (Socso) and Employment Insurance System (EIS) should cover maternity and paternity leave for private sector employees.
The inclusion of seven-day continuous paternity leave in the Employment Act 1955 came into effect on Jan 1, 2023, for fathers whose wives have given birth, applicable for up to five children regardless of the number of wives.
With this amendment, paternity leave in the private sector, including within collective agreements, typically averaged three days of paid leave.
