KUALA LUMPUR - After a five-year break, Madam Halimah Hasnoor is now ready to rejoin Malaysia’s workforce, following the announcement of the extension to paid maternity leave.
The 34-year-old homemaker said she had no choice but to resign from her post as a strategic communication officer in late 2017 after welcoming her son.
“I decided to leave my job after exhausting two months of maternity leave because childcare is very expensive,” she told The Straits Times.
“Now that the economy is uncertain, I think it’s time to go back. The plus point is, it would be more secure even if I get pregnant again,” she said.
Malaysia’s federal lawmakers last year voted to increase paid maternity leave to 98 days, from 60 previously, in a move that was welcomed by labour and women’s rights groups.
The amended Employment Act 2022 came into force in January this year.
The legislation also introduced seven days of paid paternity leave for married male employees who have been employed by the same employer for at least 12 months.
Although the move to increase paid maternity leave was mostly celebrated as it should draw more women back to the workforce, some employers were concerned that the policy would raise their operating expenditure “significantly”.
A survey released in February by the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) reflected this concern, with more Chinese employers now preferring to hire men in response to the new policy.
ACCCIM said its survey showed the maternity leave increase topped concerns employers had about the impact on costs, with 44.9 per cent of respondents considering it to be the biggest factor versus other changes to the Employment Act.
According to the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), the new policy will cost employers an estimated additional RM0.96 billion (S$287 million) per year, to RM2.48 billion from RM1.52 billion when maternity leave was 60 days.
Ms Suri Kempe, president of pro-family organisation Family Frontiers, said employers’ hesitancy in hiring women employees is reflective of their immediate priority – profit.
She said Malaysia has a higher number of women graduates than men, “and to forgo qualified talent in favour of less qualified employees would mean employers having to invest more in on-the-job training and upskilling”.
“Making an investment in women through progressive policies and practices requires a shift from recruitment and training new employees and will result in better talent retention, as employees prefer to stay in companies that better protect their interests and well-being,” she said.
Based on the most recent labour force statistics released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the country’s female labour force participation rate stood at 55.9 per cent compared with 82.3 per cent for males at the end of 2022.
Economic experts said although some firms may opt to hire more men to reduce the adverse impact of longer maternity leave, they are under pressure to embrace gender diversity and social responsibility.
Other employers said the new policy is in line with international labour standards, despite its financial impact.
“We do not see employers denying job opportunities to females because of this change in policy,” the president of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai, told ST.
“On the contrary, the longer maternity leave would support the reduction of female attrition as it would attract more women to remain in the workforce once they start a family.”
Establishing a holistic ecosystem is important to encourage women to rejoin the labour force, said MEF president, Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman. “MEF is of the view that the concept of community childcare and daycare centres for the elderly needs to be established nationwide,” he said.
To help cushion the blow of the new policy, Mr Hussain suggested the government consider reimbursing employers for the increase in maternity allowance through the Social Security Fund.
