‘Demeaning for 5month pregnant women to leave early’
KUCHING: It is demeaning for women who are five months into their pregnancy to be allowed to go home one hour earlier, says the secretary of Malaysian Trades Unions Congress ( MTUC) Sarawak division, Andrew Lo.
He said such a move made by the government would make the women less productive and less competitive.
“Frankly speaking, there is no justification for such a move. What is the rationale behind it? As far as the private sector is concerned, we will not recommend it to the employers as it is demeaning to women,” Lo told The Borneo Post here yesterday.
He added that it would be a different scenario if the women employees were manual workers.
“But most of the government servants are working in airconditioned offices and the extra one hour is totally out of the question,” he added.
Lo also pointed out that the extra one hour given to women who are five months pregnant will further make the civil service less productive and would put extra financial burden on the government, and could only be perceived as fishing for votes in view of the impending general election.
On a related issue, Lo, who is also the chief executive officer of the Sarawak Bank Employees’ Union, hoped that the private sector could follow the global trend by giving their female employees three months of maternity leave.
“We hope that the government could amend the current Employment Act so that women employees in the private sector too could enjoy such benefit as their counterparts in the civil service,” he said.
Meanwhile, when contacted, Human Resources Minister Dato Sri Richard Riot said the decision to allow women who are five months pregnant to go home one hour earlier was made based on the consensus of the Federal Cabinet.
“It’s not under the purview of my ministry but under the Public Service Department which is under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department.”
The special facility will be given to all permanent and contract staff including those currently serving the state public service, statutory bodies and local authorities starting January 1 this year.
This was stated in the Public Service Circular No 11 of 2017, which was issued by the Public Service Department directorgeneral Tan Sri Zainal Rahim Seman.
The circular stated that these women will be able to leave one hour earlier from their designated working hours. This can also be applied to their husband, provided the couple works in the same vicinity.
The implementation of the special facility is for the purpose of safeguarding the welfare and safety of female civil servants.
The circular further clarified ‘in the same vicinity’ means husband and wife are working in the same building, complex or area, thus allowing the couple to ride in the same vehicle to return home from work.
The circular also stated that previously the female civil servants were granted maternity leave and child care leave.
According to the circular, these civil servants are permitted to use the facility at any time when they are into their fifth month or 22 weeks and above of pregnancy.
“The facility will expire one day after the approved deadline or on the date when they start their maternity leave, whichever comes first. The use of this special facility is based on the application from the civil servant and approval from the head of department.
“The application form should be submitted a week earlier to ensure smooth administration of the department,” the circular said.