The Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 will come into force on January 1, 2023! The number of working hours per week will be reduced from 48 hours to 45 hours.
In the Employment (Amendment) Act 2022, there are several new measures such as the increase of the overtime threshold from RM2000 to RM4000 per month, the reduction of working hours from 48 to 45 hours per week, the increase of maternity leave from 60 to 98 days, and paternity leave of 7 days.
The Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 also introduces flexible working regulations, whereby employees can request flexible working hours from their employers depending on the working hours, working day or workplace. If an employee wishes to work flexibly, he or she must submit a formal written request to the employer. Details of the hours, days and location must be clearly stated in the written letter.
After receiving the employee’s request, the employer must respond in writing within 60 days, i.e., accept or reject the request. If an employer rejects an employee’s application, it must give a valid reason.
Under the Employment (Amendment) Act 2022, an employer may not reduce an employee’s wages because of a reduction in the number of hours worked. Regarding the reduction of weekly working hours from 48 hours to 45 hours, there are several ways for employers to adjust the weekly working hours of employees.
The first method is to reduce the number of hours an employee works each day, that is, from 8 hours a day to 7.5 hours a day. The second method is to reduce the number of hours worked on Saturdays, i.e., from 8 hours to 5 hours. The third method is to reduce the work week from 6 days to 5 days.
The Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 was originally scheduled to be implemented on September 1, 2022, but was subsequently postponed to January 1, 2023. The Act applies to the West Malaysia Peninsula and Labuan.
