Sarawak to Amend Labour Ordinance Soon
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According to Dato Gerawat Gala, the Sarawak Labour Ordinance (SLO) Amendment Bill is being prepared for submission to the state Cabinet for review and approval.
The process to amend the SLO
The Deputy Minister in the Premier's Department (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring) said that once the Cabinet approves the amendment Bill, the state will submit it to the Federal government for tabling in Parliament.
He told the Borneo Post that the Sarawak government had agreed to amend the SLO to conform to the International Labour Convention and the latest revisions to the Employment Act 1955, which were passed in Parliament on March 30.
Due to the intricacy of the labour concerns raised and the SLO amendments' comprehensiveness, there is a need for a series of discussions and engagements with numerous stakeholders and key government agencies for their feedback.
He stated that engagements had been held since last year, with more meetings and discussions taking place from January to May this year.
According to him, the state government also wants the SLO reforms to succeed in Parliament so that both employees and employers can gain.
Demand for a swift amendment
Gerawat was responding to the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) Sarawak's recent demand that revisions to the SLO be made as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, MTUC Sarawak requested the Premier of Sarawak and the Federal Human Resources Minister not to delay the amendments to the SLO any longer.
According to MTUC Sarawak secretary Andrew Lo, The SLO must be amended instantly in light of the Employment Act (EA) amendments, which will allow Peninsular Malaysian workers to enjoy improved working conditions.
He explained that this is to ensure that Sarawakian workers are not discriminated against simply because they live in a different part of Malaysia.
In Peninsular Malaysia, the maximum weekly hours of work have been cut to 45, while the SLO still demands workers to work 48 hours. The maternity leave has been raised to 98 days under the EA, compared to 60 days under the SLO.
In addition, the EA has established seven days of paternity leave, as well as protection against forced labour, discrimination in the workplace, and sexual harassment.
Yesterday, Human Resources Minister M Saravanan announced that the Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 will take effect on September 1.
He said the government is working to ensure that modifications to the Act's First Schedule are carefully drafted so as not to confuse or mislead employees about who will be covered by the legislation.
Source: The Borneo Post