Maternity & Paternity Leaves In Malaysia

When was paternity leave introduced in Malaysia?

1 January 2023

However, in line with international norms, Malaysia will introduce statutory paternity leave in the amendments to the Employment Act 1955 that will take effect on 1 January 2023. Under the amended Act, new fathers will get seven days of paid paternity leave.

The Effectiveness of The New Maternity & Paternity Leaves Benefits

There are many people who desire to grow a family, yet work often gets in the way. This is where parental leave comes into play.

Maternity leave is a protected entitlement under the Employment Act of 1955, as was previously stated. That generally means all female employees must get a minimum amount of paid maternity leave from their employers. In the employment agreement, those maternity benefits cannot be eliminated or reduced by the employer. While a woman is on maternity leave, her employer cannot fire her unless the reason is the liquidation of the company.  Maternity leave is also a legislative entitlement, however there are certain requirements that must be met in order to be qualified which are the employee must have worked in the four months before confinement, the employee must have worked a total of 90 days in the nine months before confinement and maternity leave is limited to the first five children.

Paid parental leave was originally intended to enhance women’s labor-force participation via maternity leave, giving new mothers valuable time to connect with their newborns and recover from the traumatic experiences of delivery. However, there is now the possibility of paternity leave, which results in the father’s involvement in childcare.

The above WhatsApp messages is about a man started the conversation with his employer requesting for a paternity leave because his wife gave birth earlier than expected date. The man said that he will not be able to work as he needs to look after his wife and pleaded a few times not to fire him from the job as he has a family to look after. The employer insisted and he does not want the man to work for him anymore and he proceeded to say that he had already found a replacement for the man despite his appeal and a proof of him waiting outside the labor ward at a hospital. Despite the man known as Danny attempts to negotiate, he was blocked on WhatsApp, leaving him jobless.
The law have been change in recent times. Hence, the recent updates in the Employment Act stated that a married male employee is now entitle to paid paternity leave at his ordinary rate of pay for a period of 7 consecutive days in respect of each child. However, the 7 days must be fulfilled with certain requirements which are the employee must be married to the mother given birth, the employee must be employed for the last 12 months and the seven days paternity leaves actually consists of 5 working days.

Besides. There are a term when a pregnant employee applies for a maternity leaves. The terms are the pregnant employee must have been employed for a total of 90 days in the nine months prior to confinement, the employee must notify their employer at least 60 days prior to their expected confinement period. Employee must be aware that the maternity leave only applies for the first five children. The pregnant employee must provide a doctor’s letter confirming their due date whether if they choose to work right up until the day they give birth or commence maternity leave 30 days before their expected confinement.

SUMARRY

Eligibility regulations have evolved significantly over time and vary by country. While some nations have no qualifying restrictions, others require parents to have worked full-time for a year before they are eligible for parental leave payments. As future stories pursue similar research avenues, decision-makers, businesses, and individual employees will have a more well-rounded body of knowledge to draw upon when making parental leave decisions.