Using the Employment Act 1955 (EA) may not be enough to address workplace discrimination.
It was reported that the Human Resources Ministry is finalising a draft amendment to the EA to address workplace discrimination following a ban on women wearing tudung in the hotel industry.
It needs to be noted that the EA does not apply to all employees. The EA only applies to those whose monthly salary does not exceed RM2,000, employees who are engaged in manual labour regardless of the salary, employees engaged in the operation or maintenance of mechanically propelled vehicle, employees who supervise or oversee other employees engaged in manual labour, employees engaged in any capacity on a vessel (subject to other conditions) and domestic servants.
However, it is important to note that multiple parts of the EA do not apply to domestic servants, such as the provisions concerning termination benefits, hours of work and maternity benefits.
For employees to come within the purview of the EA, they must be employed under a “Contract of Service” as opposed to a “Contract for Services”.
Also, the EA is only applicable in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan. Sabah and Sarawak are governed by their Labour Ordinances.
Unless there is a plan to give an exception to the above mentioned limitations to allow the proposed amendment to take effect, it will be difficult to address the issue under the existing legislation.
The government may want to consider enacting standalone legislation to tackle discrimination. A standalone law has the advantage of addressing the issue of discrimination comprehensively, rather than focusing on tackling issues concerning workers’ dress code or gender discrimination.
A comprehensive standalone law can cover discrimination based on age, disability, health, genetic information, gender, race, skin colour, personal belief or religion.
An all-encompassing law has the added advantage of making it easy for policymakers, administrators and enforcement agencies.
It is hoped that the ministry will take this idea on board in developing the anti-discrimination law.
Dr Muzaffar Syah Mallow, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Syariah and Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia
Source : NST
It needs to be noted that the EA does not apply to all employees. The EA only applies to those whose monthly salary does not exceed RM2,000, employees who are engaged in manual labour regardless of the salary, employees engaged in the operation or maintenance of mechanically propelled vehicle, employees who supervise or oversee other employees engaged in manual labour, employees engaged in any capacity on a vessel (subject to other conditions) and domestic servants.
However, it is important to note that multiple parts of the EA do not apply to domestic servants, such as the provisions concerning termination benefits, hours of work and maternity benefits.
For employees to come within the purview of the EA, they must be employed under a “Contract of Service” as opposed to a “Contract for Services”.
Also, the EA is only applicable in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan. Sabah and Sarawak are governed by their Labour Ordinances.
Unless there is a plan to give an exception to the above mentioned limitations to allow the proposed amendment to take effect, it will be difficult to address the issue under the existing legislation.
The government may want to consider enacting standalone legislation to tackle discrimination. A standalone law has the advantage of addressing the issue of discrimination comprehensively, rather than focusing on tackling issues concerning workers’ dress code or gender discrimination.
A comprehensive standalone law can cover discrimination based on age, disability, health, genetic information, gender, race, skin colour, personal belief or religion.
An all-encompassing law has the added advantage of making it easy for policymakers, administrators and enforcement agencies.
It is hoped that the ministry will take this idea on board in developing the anti-discrimination law.
Dr Muzaffar Syah Mallow, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Syariah and Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia
Source : NST
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