PUTRAJAYA should revoke the licence of hotels which discriminate against Muslim women working frontline jobs in the industry from wearing the hijab, or headscarf, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said.

She said this would ensure that no company had discriminatory policies against religious practices.

“If indeed a ban on workers wearing hijabs is a company policy especially in international hotels, the ministry should consider revoking their operation licences,” the Lembah Pantai MP told The Malaysian Insight.

“The government has to answer how they have allowed international hotels to discriminate against religious practices.”

The Malaysian Insight today reported the Hotel Association of Malaysia’s (MAH) defence of international hotel operators who disallowed women workers wearing hijabs from frontline jobs as part of the industry’s standard operating practice (SOPs).

MAH president Cheah Swee Hee said it was not meant to be discriminatory but was a matter of SOP used by hotels worldwide.

There have been recent complaints compiled by the International Union of Trade Unions (Uni-MLC) Council and the International Women’s Alliance for Family Institution and Quality Education (Wafiq) on the matter.

Uni-MLC revealed that hotel staff had complained to them about discrimination against Muslim women workers over the hijab, and also students attending hotel and tourism courses when they applied for practical training.

Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan was also against the SOP and urged workers to speak up as the federation could only advise employers and had no power to take action against them. – November 11, 2017.