Employers Must Give 3x The Pay Or Provide Replacement Leave If You Work On 18 & 19 Nov
The Ministry of Human Resources said employers should give their staff some 'time off' to allow them to vote on 19 November.
By Yap Wan Xiang — 16 Nov 2022, 12:34 PM
Employees must be compensated with three times their pay or replacement leave if they are working on 18 and 19 November
The Labour Department made the revelation while speaking to Sin Chew Daily for a report published yesterday, 15 November.
On 14 November, caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob declared public holidays on Friday and Saturday (18 and 19 November) to encourage people to vote on polling day, which falls on Saturday.
According to the Chinese daily, a spokesperson from the Labour Department confirmed that the public holidays on those two dates were declared in accordance with Section 60D(1)(b) of the Employment Act 1955 and Section 8 of the Public Holidays Act 1951.
"As a result, employees working that day are entitled to triple pay or replacement leave," they said.
In other words, if you make RM2,000 a month for a five-day workweek arrangement, you are entitled to be paid RM230 a day instead of RM77
AskLegal reported that the triple pay rate applies to employees who are paid hourly or monthly as stipulated in Section 60D(3)(a) of the Act.
On top of that, if you work a half-day shift on a public holiday, you are entitled to a full day's pay under the law as well.
With that said, the Ministry of Human Resources said employees who work on polling day must be given 'time off' so that they have enough time to travel to their respective polling stations to vote
"The Ministry urges all employers in the private sector to give permission to employees to fulfil their responsibilities as voters in accordance with the provision under Subsection 25(1) of the Election Offenses Act 1954 (Act 5)," said its caretaker minister Datuk Seri M Saravanan, reported Berita Harian.
"They (employers) need to discuss with employees the possibility of giving 'time off', substitution leave, or annual leave for that purpose."
Saravanan said time off can be given to employees who vote in nearby areas, while those who need more time to go to their respective polling centres should be given replacement leave or allowed to take annual leave.
Employers who impose any penalty or wage deduction simply because employees do not attend work to vote in the 15th General Election (GE15) can be fined up to RM5,000 or jailed for a year under the law.
