• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • RSS
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
The Nut Graph

The Nut Graph

Making Sense of Politics & Pop Culture

  • Projects
    • MP Watch
    • Found in Conversation
  • Current Issues
    • 6 Words
    • Commentary
    • Features
    • Found in Quotation
    • News
  • Columns
  • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Found in Malaysia
  • Multimedia
    • Audio
    • Pictures
    • Videos
  • Corrections
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Vault
    • Found in Translation

Govt allows cut in working days (Updated)

January 29, 2009

(Updated 5:12pm, 29 Jan 2009)

KUALA LUMPUR, 29 Jan 2009: The government will allow companies and factories to shorten their operations to three days a week, provided workers were agreeable to the move, Labour director-general Datuk Ismail Abdul Rahim said today.

He said the government’s main concern was to ensure minimal job loss and that companies continue to operate, albeit on a low gear.

He said it was necessary for employers to get the consent of the workers because if working days were reduced, workers would get less pay.

“It is the duty of the department to ensure that workers were adequately protected and at the same time, companies did not lose out,” Ismail told Bernama.

Ismail felt that it would be ideal if employers, workers and their unions could work together for their mutual good and the good of the nation.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) was of the view that it was better for the workers to take a temporary pay cut than to lose their job.

“As employers, we do not want to lose our employees and would do our best to retain as many as possible,” assured MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan.

“However, economic conditions are such that we sometimes have no choice but to cut back on employment to keep afloat,” he said.

Since 1 Jan, about 10,000 workers have lost their jobs in the country and more are expected to face the axe if the economic situation did not change for the better, said Shamsuddin.

He added that although the United States and Europe were the most affected by the global economic crisis, Malaysia would not be spared either, as it was a major trading nation and depended a lot on exports to these markets.

Last week, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S Subramaniam announced that almost 45,000 workers, mostly in the electronic sector, would be laid off.

Another 7,000 workers have been retrenched and they would be assisted by the government.

The government had proposed that these retrenched workers be paid RM500 monthly while waiting for a new job. They might also get an offer to be retrained and acquire new skills or improve on their existing skills. 

However, according to Ismail, the mechanics of the payment and training was still being worked out.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has pledged full cooperation with the government and employers to ride over these difficult times.

Secretary-general G Rajasegaran said all affiliates had been informed to extend cooperation and maintain industrial harmony in their respective workplaces.

Meanwhile, Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Noraini Ahmad advised workers who were aware their companies were folding up or facing imminent retrenchment to contact the ministry for assistance.

She said, if the ministry was informed that some companies were about to fold up, its Labour Department would look for jobs in other companies by placing the names of the soon-to-be-affected workers in its Workers Mini Carnival programme.

“We will also re-train workers who have been retrenched and give them RM500 each in the duration of their training while waiting for new jobs,” she told reporters after handing over a RM1,500 cheque for funeral arrangements to Siti Mariam Rosidi at her house in Kuchai Entrepreneur Park here.

Siti Mariam’s husband, Bank Negara employee Noor Azhar Hassan, 30, died in a road accident on 22 Jan. — Bernama

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: economy, Human Resources Ministry, jobs, Labour department, MEF, recession, retrenchment, unemployment

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent Comments

  • Wave33 on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Adam on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Andre Lai on The Nut Graph stops publication

Recent News

  • The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Nasihat tentang sepupu yang mengganggu perasaan
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: The Sunni-Shia split and the answer to Muslim unity
  • Why Malaysia needs the national unity bills
  • Challenging government in the digital age: Lessons from Kidex
  • Najib’s failure
  • Babi, anjing, pondan: Jijik orang Islam Malaysia
  • Kidex and the law – What the government’s not telling you
  • Beyond Dyana Sofya
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: Does Malaysia need hate speech laws?

Tags

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Anwar Ibrahim Barisan Nasional BN Bukit Selambau by-election dap Deborah Loh Ding Jo-Ann Election Commission elections Found in Malaysia Found in Quotation Gan Pei Ling government high court Hishammuddin Hussein ISA islam Jacqueline Ann Surin Khairy Jamaluddin KW Mak Lim Guan Eng Malaysia MCA Menteri Besar MP Watch Muhyiddin Yassin muslim Najib Razak Pakatan Rakyat Parliament Parti Keadilan Rakyat pas Penang Perak PKR police politics prime minister Selangor Shanon Shah Umno Wong Chin Huat Zedeck Siew

Footer

  • About The Nut Graph
  • Who Are We?
  • Our Contributors
  • Past Contributors
  • Guest Contributors
  • Editorial Policy
  • Comments & Columns
  • Copyright Policy
  • Web Accessibility Policy
  • Privacy Policy
The Nut Graph

© 2025 The Nut Graph