Employees Need To Be Paid Public Holiday Rates or Given Replacement Leave If They Work On 18 & 19 Nov

The current PM, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has declared that 18 and 19 November are public holidays so that Malaysians can travel back to vote in their hometowns.

However, there are still some people who need to work on those days, so the HR minister, Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, has issued a statement on the Semenanjung Malaysia Labour Department’s Facebook page telling what employees are entitled to when they work on 18 and 19 November.

“For states with Friday and Saturday as weekends, they will get Sunday (20 November) as an additional day off,” he said.

He added that these public holidays were declared under Section 8 of the Holidays Act 1951 [Act 369]; and based on Section 60D(1)(b) of the Employment Act 1955, employees can be given replacement leaves if they were made to work on public holidays.

“Employers need to tell their employees if they are observing 18 and 19 as public holidays or whether they will be given replacement leaves.”

“If there are no replacement leaves, then the employees who work during those dates will need to be paid public holiday rates, ” he continued.

However, the minister urged all employers to consider observing the public holiday to give their employees a chance to exercise their rights as citizens of Malaysia by casting their votes.

Remember your rights and be sure to go out and vote this 19 November.

Also read: GE15: Private Sector Companies Cannot Deduct Pay If Employees Don’t Show Up For Work on GE Day