Act Prohibits Salaries To Be Revealed To Third Parties

Kota Kinabalu: Plans for firms to reveal the salaries of workers to ensure equitable pay is not plausible for the foreseeable future, said a spokesperson for the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).

He said all states in Malaysia came under the Employment Act which prohibits employees' salaries to be revealed to third parties.

"You see salary information is confidential, therefore there is no law at this moment where you can release all these information," he said.

"Maybe the MB (Johor Menteri Besar) has his idea for the future, it could be an idea but anyhow it is not in the law now – in the law it is still confidential."

He added that apart from the Employment Act, The Personal Data Protection Act also disallows salaries of workers to be released.

He was commenting on Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin's recent proposal to the Federal government to emulate the British government's plan to compel firms to reveal the details of their workers' salaries.

On July 14, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced plans to force companies with 250 or more employees to publish the difference in earnings between its male and female staff to ensure equitable pay.

While in Britain the aim was to close the gender gap and ensure that women are paid wages equal to those of men doing similar work, the proposal by Khaled, however, aims to find out if employers in Johor are not matching the salaries offered elsewhere, thus encouraging the undesirable outward movement of their workers, which could threaten the state's development.

Meanwhile, Federation of Sabah Industries (FSI) President Datuk Seri Wong Khen Thau said to emulate the system to implement this would be difficult in Sabah as there were not many companies with over 250 employees.

However, he said it was a good move if such plans were implemented though it would be more complicated than what is carried out in the United Kingdom as while comparing salaries is one thing, it should also be taken into account that different locations have different costs of living.

Source