He said this was to assist industry players who previously urged the ministry to delay the implementation until after the economy recovers.

“After discussing with the Cabinet today, we agreed to postpone it by four months,” he said at a press conference.

He added that the amendments will be enforced in January “by hook or by crook”, giving time for the country to address the shortage of workers.

The government had previously announced that amendments to the Employment Act, which will see weekly working hours reduced from 48 to 45 hours, will be enforced from Sept 1.

This is after amendments were made to the Employment Act 1955, which aims to safeguard the welfare of workers. The amendments are in line with the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention.

The amendments would also allow employees to work flexible hours and give them the ability to choose location, time and number of work days.

According to Saravanan, the reduced work hours should also apply to migrant workers.

“When it comes to workers we cannot discriminate between local or foreign workers. We are trying our best to come out of Tier 3 (of the US State Department’s annual human trafficking report) and avoid forced labour,” he said.

He added that the ministry was also looking into changing the term “pekerja asing” to something less discriminatory like “pekerja luar negara” or “pekerja imigran”.

Saravanan also pointed out that discriminatory clauses against foreign maids in the First Schedule of the Act will be addressed once the amendments are enforced in January.

“We will see how to revise and make it better across the board,” he said.

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