Malaysia Temporarily Suspends Recruitment Of New Foreign Workers August 15-31

Illustration-(Photo: DOK ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Malaysia's Ministry of Human Resources will temporarily suspend the acceptance of new foreign manpower applications to allow a review of procedures following the 2022 Manpower Act (Amendment) which will take effect on September 1.

It is planned that the acceptance of applications for new foreign workers will be temporarily suspended from August 15 to 31, 2022, according to a ministry statement quoted by Bernama via Antara, Friday, August 5.

The Ministry of Human Resources said the new procedure for applying for foreign workers, which took effect from September 1, would be announced soon. Meanwhile, applications for foreign workers that have been submitted by employers before or on August 14 will still be processed and completed before or on August 31, 2022.

The 2022 Manpower (Amendment) Act passed by Parliament in March includes the extension of maternity leave from 60 days to 98 days, restrictions on termination of employment for pregnant workers, as well as the introduction of maternity leave for married male workers.

The extension of maternity leave is in line with the recommendations of the International Labor Organization which states that the government should guarantee 98 days of paid maternity leave.

The amendments to the law also address changing the maximum weekly working hours of employees, which is down from 48 hours to 45 hours.