LETTER | Amend labour laws to cater for workplace flexibility

LETTER | Human Resources Minister Steven Sim, in responding to the new flexible work arrangement initiated in Singapore, has referred to provisions of the Employment Act 1955 and stated that Malaysian workers could apply to their employers for flexible work arrangements.

What all parties need to recognise is that it is still the prerogative of the employer, almost entirely, to approve or conversely disapprove such applications.

Flexible work arrangements, including working from home, are clearly not something which can be very easily legislated as the nature of some businesses would simply not allow for it.

Having said that, the provisions in the law for accommodations due to circumstances such as elderly care, disability and childcare have not kept up with the progress made globally over the past few decades. There has been a lot more awareness of mental health and its impact at the workplace, for example, and local laws need to progress with time.

The act is a colonial legacy and we do not seem to have unshackled ourselves from the master and servant relationship within the employment context. The abuse of foreign workers, depression of wage levels and suppression of trade union activities are a symptom of an overall failed architecture.

Merely regurgitating provisions of the law is not something which policymakers or ministers should be doing. They should instead be constantly challenging the adequacy of the system to progress with time.

Why is it that despite Malaysia being formed in 1963, the workers of Sabah and Sarawak are in an inferior position in many regards as compared to their counterparts in West Malaysia?

The biggest problem with the coalition government at this point is that despite the promise of reform, they continue to pander to the interests of big business.

Unless there is a fundamental shift philosophically and policy-wise in this regard, we cannot expect the change that would benefit the common people of Malaysia.

The writer is the international labour adviser at the Social Protection Contributors' Advisory Association Malaysia (SPCAAM).

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.