The managing partner of consulting firm Speak Up Malaysia, Emellia Shariff, said although flexible work arrangements are crucial for increasing women’s participation in the workforce, limiting such policies to women could backfire.
Emellia said while companies may have good intentions, they must be cautious about such policies as they could shift the burden of caregiving entirely onto women.
“If only women are given flexible working hours, some men will say that since they don’t (get the same benefits), they can’t pick up the children or do housework,” she said at an International Women’s Day forum here today.
“This leaves women with even more responsibilities at home.”
The forum, organised by the United Nations and the Finnish embassy in Kuala Lumpur, was themed For All Women and Girls in Malaysia: Rights, Equality, and Empowerment.
World Bank senior economist Shakira Teh Sharifuddin said corporate gender quotas, such as having a percentage of women in leadership roles, can sometimes result in burdening a company.
“While that is fair to a certain extent, when we think about it, we have to be careful,” she said.
“When we push for numbers, policy-making becomes about chasing those numbers.”
For instance, Shakira said, if the government sets a target for women’s workforce participation, companies may meet it by hiring women with fewer caregiving responsibilities or from privileged backgrounds, making the policy “somewhat meaningless”.
The Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance 2021 has extended its target of achieving 30% women on boards to all companies. It was previously applicable only to large companies.
Visually impaired lawyer Amanda Kong said policymakers need to understand the needs of the disabled community.
“We need to understand what the community requires, like education. You (government) need to provide accessible education and jobs to accommodate them,” she said.
Kong, who is a community development manager with the Make it Right Movement (MIRM), also said some members of the disabled community do not register themselves with the social welfare department to prevent stigma against them.
“People are reluctant because they will be put in a box (stigmatised).
“Because of this, a lot of people do not get their disability cards for government aid or they hide away their disabled children,” she said, adding that more awareness needs to be created so that they feel included.
MIRM is a CSR initiative by Brickfields Asia College that champions community causes both locally and globally.