News in Brief
Full Salary For Workers On H1N1 related Medical Leave
Workers suspected to be infected with the Influenza A(H1N1) virus are entitled for full daily wages if they are granted medical leaves by doctors, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S.Subramaniam.
He said the workers should be paid for all the days they had been on medical leaves.
"Employers must recognise their medical leaves and treat the infection just like other illness," he told the media.
He said workers infected with the virus must be quarantined for at least a week and during the period, employers must allow them to go on medical leaves, provided the leaves were certified by doctors.
ICT Sector Revenue To Grow 5%
Despite the bleak economic climate, the information and communications technology (ICT) industry is poised to record a 5% revenue growth this year thanks to surging demand in outsourcing, content development and software usage.
Local reports quoted The Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of Malaysia (Pikom) chairman David Wong Nan Fay who noted that revenue for the ICT industry rose 7% last year to about RM45bil.
“With more foreign companies looking to save costs, many are looking at outsourcing their operation to Malaysian ICT companies who have talent and expertise in multi-lingual call centres, supply chains and high value added business process outsourcing services,” he said.
GLC staff to retire at 58?
Staff if government-linked companies (GLC) could enjoy longer employment if their unions get their way. The latter wanst the retirement age raised from 55 to 58 as well as a minimum pension that is above the poverty line.
Mohamed Shafie BP Mammal, president of the task force committee of unions in GLCs, told the media that a memorandum would be submitted to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
He said the retirement age for employees of GLCs should be in line with that of civil servants, which had been raised to 58.
“A GLC, Malaysia Airlines, has already conformed with the retirement age for the public sector, so there is no reason for the Government not to consider our request,” he said.
Foreign Worker Bosses Can’t Refuse Requests For Travel Documents
The Human Resource Ministry has spoken: Employers holding on to the passport of their foreign maids must surrender the travel document if and when the maids ask for it.
It’s minister Datuk S. Subramaniam said employers did not have the right to refuse the request from the maids for any reason, especially when they wanted to quit or leave the country.
“Failure to surrender the passport on the request will result in a RM10,000 fine under amendments to the Employment Act 1955,” he told a press conference recebtly.
37.000 Malaysians Lost Jobs Since August
It was not a period of massive retrenchment, but Malaysia did experience some damage in job market. About 37,000 employees having lost their jobs since August 2008, said Manpower Department director-general Datuk Ismail Abdul Rahim.
“Hopefully things will turn around for the better by the fourth quarter this year,” said Ismail, one of the panellists at the FMM (Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers) HR Conference 2009 themed Managing Downsizing in Uncertain Times held recently.
He noted that the present employment situation was not as bad compared to the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997/8.
Medical Officers And Staff leaves Freezed due to H1N1 outbreak
The Health Ministry has freezed the leave of 100,000 medical officers and staff with immediate effect in view of the Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
The directive involves all medical officers in hospitals throughout the country, medical staff and laboratory personnel.
"The move is to ensure all the workforce can be utilised to combat the Influenza A (H1N1) outbreak effectively," he told the media.
Liow also hoped employers would allow their staff who returned from overseas, especially countries like Australia, Philippines and United States, to go on unrecorded leave so that they can be "self quarantined".
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