Malaysians Will Now Be Working 45 Hours Instead Of 48 Hours Per Week Starting 1 September
The five-day work week will still be enforced.
Working hours for employees will be reduced from 48 hours to 45 hours per week starting 1 September as amendments to the Employment Act 1955 come into effect
According to Bernama, Human Resources Deputy Minister Datuk Awang Hashim said that the amendment to working hours will hopefully provide employees with more flexibility in their working hours. Awang also hopes that by reducing the number of working hours per week, the welfare of employees can be protected.
He, however, added that the government is not engaged in any proposal to set a four-day work week.
Apart from reduced hours, more changes are being made in an effort to provide Malaysians with a more flexible and sustainable work schedule
Starting next month, Malaysian employees will also be entitled to apply for a more flexible work schedule, which will include making changes in work days, work hours, as well as the location of their workplace.
"The amendments also introduce a new section on flexible work arrangements, to allow employees to apply to employers to carry out work according to the suitability of working hours, working days or workplaces, including working from home for emergency situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic," said Awang.
Image via Malay Mail
According to a US study conducted in 2019, Kuala Lumpur was ranked as the city with the worst work-life balance amongst 40 other cities
Based on various factors, each city was scored out of 100, with a higher score indicating a better work-life balance. Kuala Lumpur scored one out of 100.
This could be due to the statistics that show many employees in Kuala Lumpur work more than 48 hours a week, have long commutes back and forth to work, and have little opportunity to rest after work hours.
Kuala Lumpur was also ranked third for most overworked cities in the world in 2022.
Image via Encyclopedia Britannica
Singapore is also taking steps to implement more work flexibility for its workers:
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