Industrial and Employment Law For Women

Industrial and Employment Law For Women (MALAYSIA)

INTRODUCTION
For centuries, women employees have been subjugated by unfair labour practice and poor working conditions through out the world. In Western European countries, Industrial Revolution has change most of the Western countries from agricultural based to industrial based economy. Early development of textiles and tin factories have spurred the demand of labourers and natural resources like tin ore and cotton with rapid using of steams and other heavy machinery. Women employees were forced to work in dangerous mining camps and in unsafe work station in the factory which caused accidents.
In Malaysia, since 1970s there have been periods of rapid industrialisation and women employees have been majority percentage of industry workforce. With a lot of women making up the population of the Malaysian workforce, they are more concern with their rights and the law that protect their rights. All women employees are governed by some part of Employment Law (1955) and the protections of women employees’ rights also shows that government and particularly employers are more thankful to the contribution by their women staffs. Excerpts of Employment Act 1955 also have stressed importance of women workforce rights in their workplace and environments with Section 34 – 36, Section 41, 44. The excerpts from Employment Act 1955 can actually be divided by us into two main categories which is the law on working environments and condition and the latter is focus on the benefits to the women employees.


BENEFITS FOR WOMEN EMPLOYEES
Malaysian women employees are lucky because the Employment Law covered their rights to receive certain benefits. Compensation is an important area of human resource management not only to satisfy your employees but also to abide the statutes and employment law to avoid hassle law suits by your employees. Women enjoy a lot of benefits especially concerned to the maternity benefits. However, some employer refuse to abide the requirement because they claims that the women employees are less productive especially those who have married and reluctant to hire or give out such benefits. With gaining knowledge on rights and law, women employees can now file suit, claims or complain to authority to protect their rights.

Maternity Leave
Women maternity benefits are areas that much envy to the workforce of other nation especially in Asia. In Section 37(1) (a) (E.A), it is stated that women employees are entitled to have maternity leave for not less than 60 days. The maternity leaves are including any public holidays and rest days so if the leave falls on the rest days or public holidays, they will not get any additional days of maternity leave as stated by Section 60D(1B). Maternity leave is very important to women employees because they need a rest after strenuously giving birth to their child. It is commendable that Malaysian government also give the maternity leave to the husband of women employees.
During the employees are on the maternity leave, it is prohibited that the employer from dismissing the employees because it is an offence. However if she still absent from work after expired 60 day’s of maternity leave, she cannot be terminated with reasons of medically unfit to continue working. This exception is only valid for not over than 90 days and if the women employees cannot provide any medical proof to support their claims, they will not be protected under the law. During the extension of maternity leave, it will be counted as unpaid leave or withdrawal of the annual leave by the employer.

Maternity Allowance
During the period of maternity leave, women employees cannot work and they are virtually lost their monthly income if there are no maternity allowance and salary protection. However the Employment also covers the maternity allowance to all those women employees. The employers have to pay the monthly salary of women employees as usual. As for rated employee, their wages will be paid at ordinary rate of pay or at the rate of RM 6.00 per day, judging which is the highest will be chosen. To be eligible for payment of maternity allowance, women employees must meet certain condition such as:
• Have been employed by the employer for a period of at least 4 months and must be working for at least 90 days
• She may not have more than 5 surviving children at the time of her confinement. This means that is she was to giving birth to the sixth child, she will not be entitled for maternity leave allowance
However the law also give some constraint to the women employees if they break the rules by not informing their employer on their absenteeism
Payment of allowance to the nominee.
It is undeniably that during giving birth to the child, employees may face some difficulties and also involving fatal accidents while during the maternity leave period. A female employee may nominate some other person to whom the maternity allowance may be paid on her behalf and payment of the maternity allowance made to the person so nominated shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be a payment to the female employee herself. (Section 41)


CONCLUSION
Undeniably that Malaysia has good Employment Act coverage on the women employees. We have been giving attention to the women work force because the women will be largest work force and playing important role in economic development soon. In general, Employment Act covers two important areas for women employees, which are the working condition and the statute fringe benefits. Government have been considerate in providing safety working condition for women employees by not allowing working at night without permission from Director General of Human Resource and giving limits of working hours to women. We have to accept that women are physically poorer than men and they need special attention regarding the safety and physical limits of their job, even though we are talking about gender equality. Some dangerous and accident vulnerable job like in mining and transportation are restricted from women employees to ensure their safety. Any act of employer against the Section 34 of Employment Act is an offence causing them to face law charges in Industrial Court. As for the benefits area, it is considerable to let the women employees take 60 days of maternity leave with continuing salary or wage rate during the leave. This will ensure the women employees have continuing income during their break as for those who is covered under EA, their income is below RM 1500 tag and those allowance are essentials for their survival. Maternity should not only satisfy the law requirement but better package of benefits should be offered by employers to women employees. Employer should not be acting double standard on the matter of hiring women employees with reasons that they will be less productive by taking more holidays than male workers. As for women employees, even though they have special treatment, they must not misuse the rights given by the law.

It is not only introduction of law that will ensure the women employee’s rights, but an enforcement of the law is the most important factor to ensure employers abide the rules and regulation. The women employees must not only satisfied with the current laws, but keep on urging the changes and modification, as the current law or act cannot suit the changing environment workforce today. Women employees can hope for a better future to come.


RECOMMENDATIONS
Employment Act (1955) coverage on women employees is a little bit outdated and it needs attention from the government and law maker to make some changes and modification on part regarding the women workforce. To built a more productive workforce and by turn to ensure women rights are protected is not an easy task. Our group will give some recommendations regarding the changes that can be made to the current Employment Act 1955.
1. Even though we agree that maternity leave should be maintained but women employees can be given option to choose whether they want to continue working while on leave (for example working from home – telecommuting) or voluntarily cut short their maternity leave. We have to accept rationally that in Malaysia, women population grows at faster rate and one day they will be larger workforce population than Malaysian men. If they accept the option, maybe we can solve shortage of workforce woes in the future and it will be more productive to employers. However, employers should provide additional compensation if they choose this option.
2. The term of not allowing women workforce at certain period at night in certain sectors have to be changed because the changing of economic sector, differently from when the Act (Section 34) was created. It is recommended that the women workforce working at night in certain areas like entertainment outlet, cyber café and security should be regulated to ensure their safety too. These sectors operated until late in the wee hours but not well regulated. Larger and wider scope of modern occupations allowed or restricted shall be discussed.
3. More enforcement on the area of mining and agriculture because women workforce especially in agriculture are working alone or with small employer. These workers maybe are working without resting 11 hours as required by the Employment Act but hardly notice but anyone because they are rural-based.
4. Allowance for maternity leaves should be given at higher rate for the first child and lesser for additional one to encourage women employees and this is to encourage them have the right amount of children. This is not discrimination but certainly for the welfare of the children because poorer family should have smaller size compare to family who has better financial sounding. However, employer also can be regulated to give better benefits to poorer women employees in their company.
5. Enforcement of the rules and regulation is more important because there are so many employers reluctant to follow it while the Act do not stated the consideration what if the women employees work in restricted area by their own and not hired by someone else? For examples there are a lot of women workforce hired as bus driver, construction workers and mining but no action from enforcement agency.
6. Even though we focused on Employment law, but our group would like to discussed some protection and benefits that women should be given from HRM perspectives. For examples protection from sexual harassment and other discrimination which are still new in Malaysia and not covered by law compare to other country like United States.