Three hotel associations sign undertaking not to impose headscarf ban

PUTRAJAYA: Three hotel associations yesterday signed an undertaking with the Ministry of Human Resources to not set any policy prohibiting female employees from wearing headscarves.

The three associations were the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners (MAHO) and the Malaysia Budget Hotel Association (MYBHA) representing more than 3,000 hotels in Malaysia.

Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ismail Abd Muttalib said it was hoped that the hotels involved would abide by what was agreed upon and issues regarding the hijab ban would not arise again.

“The Ministry is very pleased with the seriousness of those involved in ensuring workers are not discriminated, as is enshrined in the constitution,” he told a press conference after the signing of the undertaking yesterday. “The government will never compromise on any issue involving worker discrimination,” he said.

Ismail said statutory checks on employers in the hotel sector would continue to be enhanced from time to time to monitor their commitment.

He said since December last year, the ministry had conducted checks in more than 600 hotels to ensure there was no discrimination against female Muslim workers for wearing the hijab.

The Department of Labour in Peninsular Malaysia will also hold several dialogue sessions with human resource managers in the hotel industry, he said.

“This is to clarify and get their commitment that the policy of banning the hijab as well as other issues of discrimination in the hotel sector is not stated in their standard operating procedure (SOP),” he said.