Sabah Labour Advisory Council to be set up to look into implementation of Sabah Labour Ordinance amendments

Tabled in October 2022, the amendments aim to increase and improve the protection and welfare of workers in the state of Sabah.

According to Malaysia's Deputy Human Resources Minister Mustapha Sakmud, a Sabah Labour Advisory Council (SLAC) would be set up in the state to look into the implementation of the amended Sabah Labour Ordinance (SLO).

As cited in Borneo Post Online, the Deputy Minister expressed hope that employers and employees at the state and federal level will be able to coordinate the implementation of the SLO amendments. 

The amendments to the SLO were tabled to the State Cabinet during a meeting in October 2022 and were passed. This proposed amendment covers all private workers in the state of Sabah regardless of salary limit or type of job, and aims to standardise the provisions of the labour law for Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. All private sector workers who enter into a service contract are protected and stand to benefit from the Labor Ordinance [Sabah Chapter 67].

The amendments aim to improve the protection and welfare of workers in the state of Sabah, and ensure that the national labour law complies with the requirements of the Convention and other international labour instruments.

Among the changes proposed are to strengthen provisions related to the liability of salary payment (principal contractor, subcontractor or contractor for labour if the salary is not paid by the employer to the employee, then the liability of the contracting party).

The amended SLO also included a chapter on sexual harassment as well as the Children and Young People (Employment) Act 1966 into a specific chapter of SLO by including the interpretation of “light work”, “age of admission” and the list of “hazardous work”.

Others include protection during pregnancy (prohibition of terminating female employees during pregnancy), increasing the maternity leave eligibility period from 60 days to 98 days (14 weeks) and seven-day paternity leave as well as increasing penalties and punishments (fine increased from RM10,000 to RM50,000). Imprisonment is also looking to be increased from six months to two years, while repeated offenses carry a fine of RM100,000 or five years in prison or both.

The Minister of Human Resources is expected to present the Labor Ordinance Amendment Bill [Sabah Chapter 67] to the Parliament meeting in the middle of 2023.

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