KUALA LUMPUR, August 7 — Kuala Langat MP Dr Ahmad Yunus Hairi has urged the government to increase minimum paid maternity leave entitlement for civil servants to the 98 days set for the private sector.
Public Service director-general Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz told Bernama yesterday that the minimum maternity leave entitlement in the public sector is mandated at 60 days per birth, with the maximum set at 90 days.
Under the 2022 amendment of the Employment Act 1955 that covers all private sector employees in peninsular Malaysia and Labuan – which came into force on January 1, 2023 – minimum full-pay maternity leave entitlement was increased from 60 to 98 days, matching international labour standards. No maximum is set.
“There should be no difference in maternity leave entitlement for women between the public and private sector,” Dr Ahmad Yunus told CodeBlue yesterday.
“Standardisation, discussions, and stakeholder engagements should be held by the Public Service Department (JPA) so that there are no double standards,” added the head of Perikatan Nasional’s health committee.
The Labour Ordinance of Sabah (Amendment) Bill 2024 that regulates private sector employees in Sabah – which includes a raise in minimum full-pay maternity leave entitlement from 60 to 98 days – was tabled for first reading in the last Dewan Rakyat meeting.
The federal government is currently drafting amendments to the Sarawak Labour Ordinance.
Maternity leave for civil servants entered public discourse recently after CodeBlue reported last Friday a circular by the Hulu Langat district health office (PKD) that cut maternity leave from 90 to 60 days for medical officers in all 15 public health clinics in the district, effective last June 27, due to “critical” staff shortages.
Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad yesterday reversed the decision and reinstated 90-day maternity leave, after massive public backlash to the Selangor state health department’s statement last Saturday that defended the shortened maternity leave of 60 days for women doctors in Klinik Kesihatan in Hulu Langat.
JPA’s Wan Ahmad Dahlan said Hulu Langat PKD’s reduction of maternity leave to the minimum 60 days for medical officers did not violate maternity leave regulations, as the head of department is authorised to make such approvals based on the exigency of service.
