KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 — Dzulkefly Ahmad has claimed that government nurses will only really work 40 hours a week in a new shift system under Sistem Saraan Perkhidmatan Awam (SSPA).
The health minister explained that in the current 42-hour work week, nurses in the public health service work “all hours”, without any breaks for meals or prayers.
However, Dzulkefly asserted that in the new 45-hour shift system under SSPA, with an additional three work hours a week, nurses will get a one-hour break daily for five days. Hence, they will actually work just 40 hours a week.
“The 42 hours a week is all work – work, work, and work for 42 hours. Where is your time for prayers or meals? There is none,” Dzulkefly told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday during the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) winding-up of the 2025 Supply Bill at the committee stage.
“Under SSPA, policymakers have proposed adding three hours to the 42 hours, totalling 45 hours. But in those 45 hours, a one-hour break for meals or prayers is allocated each day. For five days’ work, that’s five hours.
“So, the 42 hours compared to the 45 hours under SSPA – if we deduct five hours, or one hour a day, that makes it 40 hours of work.”
The health minister isn’t making an apple-to-apple comparison. If five break hours were regularly taken in the old system, that means nurses should currently be working only 37 hours a week. This means that the new “actual” work week of 40 hours under SSPA is still three hours longer.
On the other hand, if nurses continue to work throughout their five break hours under SSPA, like what they have always been doing, then they will actually work 45 hours weekly – still three hours longer than the 42 hours under the old system.
Generally, employers count break hours as part of an employee’s official working hours, unless an employer – in this case, the government – legally separates break hours from working hours. Hence, if the government wants an official 40-hour work week instead of 45 hours for nurses, then their shifts will have to change on paper accordingly.
During his winding-up speech in Parliament, Dzulkefly reiterated several times that he was not “inclined” to any particular option in the issue until he explores and fully understands the issue “360 degrees.”
The health minister also told parliamentarians that stakeholder engagement sessions will be held with the MOH’s nursing division, matrons, and nursing associations, even though the new SSPA system that streamlines 45-hour work weeks for all civil servants is set to come into effect in three days’ time on Sunday (Dec 1).
The Public Service Department (JPA) has been working on the SSPA system for more than a year, collecting feedback from civil servants as early as August 2023. Dzulkefly was appointed health minister in December 2023.
Suhaizan Kayat (PH-Pulai), who also heads the Health parliament special select committee, pointed out that in the 45-hour work week under SSPA, nurses on shift duty only get one day off, whereas those not on shift duty get two days off.
“This isn’t fair,” Suhaizan told Dzulkefly in the Dewan Rakyat. “Actually, they [nurses] are comfortable with the 42-hour system. They’re uncomfortable with the addition of three hours.”
In rare public criticism, six nursing groups, including the Malayan Nurses Union, have opposed the new 45-hour work week in the shift system under SSPA, saying that the three additional working hours could increase nurses’ work burden and affect the quality of patient care.
