HR Ministry's guidelines for employers in Malaysia on dealing with coronavirus

Malaysia's Ministry of Human Resources has issued a set of guidelines for employers, in handling issues that may arise from contagious outbreaks such as the 2019 novel coronavirus.

According to a Bernama report, Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran said employers should follow a set of actions when handling an employee returning from affected countries such as China, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

• Employers are to instruct their employees to get examined immediately, by a registered medical practitioner or medical officer, as stipulated by Section 60F of the Employment Act 1955. This examination will be at the expense of the employer.
• Employers should provide paid sick leave or hospitalisation leave to employees receiving quarantine orders (from a registered medical practitioner), regardless of whether they are serving their quarantine at home or in a hospital.
• For these employees undergoing quarantine, employers are encouraged to provide them with extra remuneration over and above their sick leave or hospitalisation leave.
• Employees who have returned from the affected countries after serving an official duty or per the employer's instructions, should be paid their full salaries while serving their quarantine period.
• Employees who have not been issued a quarantine order by a registered medical practitioner should not be prevented from attending work. That said, employers are allowed to instruct an employee who is unwell to take paid sick leave instead of coming into work.
• Employers should not, in any way, instruct employees to utilise their annual leave entitlement or take unpaid leave while serving quarantine.

ALSO READ: What you need to know about the Wuhan virus in Malaysia

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