EMPLOYERS have to pay workers earning RM2,000 and below per month their full wages even if they don’t come to work due to the period of the movement control order, said lawyers.

The lawyers told The Malaysian Insight that these sub-group of workers are protected under the 1955 Labour Act and cannot be forced to take unpaid leave.

Employers who breach the law are liable to be fined RM10,000, they said.

The order to pay full wages and not force workers to take unpaid leave is also stated in the FAQ released by the National Security Council on March 16.

Employees who earn more than RM2,000 a month may also not be compelled to take unpaid leave unless it is specified in their contracts.

As the country goes into partial lockdown starting today, reports have emerged of shuttered companies forcing their workers to take unpaid leave.

Putrajaya is enforcing a partial shutdown of the private and public sector to curb the spread of the coronavirus which has infected 790 people and killed two.

Essential services that are open are water, electricity, telecommunications, post, transport, oil and gas, banking, healthcare, pharmacies, prisons, ports, airports, security, defence and food.

Only those in the essential services will be allowed to leave home for work, while everyone else has been ordered to stay home.

Lawyer Faizal Ridhuan said workers earning RM2,000 and below but who are forced to go on leave due are legally entitled to their full salaries.

“Employers are not allowed to deduct their pay or put them on unpaid leave,” Faizal said in a series of tweets.

Employers are allowed to make deductions to these workers’ salaries only if it is expressly stated in other laws such as for the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Social Security or Inland Revenue Board, Faisal said.

“Employers who deduct wages during the restricted movement period are acting illegally and can be penalised,” said Faizal.

Another lawyer, Lim Wei Jiet said for employees earning RM2,00 and above per month, whether or not they may be put on unpaid leave would depend on their employment contracts.

“Employers can negotiate with these employees to save the company. But the employer cannot force employees to take unpaid leave if such a provision is not in their employment contracts.”

Penang State Human Resources liaison committee chairman Ajit Singh Jessy said in the case of when a collective agreement or a union exists, employers must discuss the matter with the union.

“The Industrial Court in an award many years ago stated that where the shutdown is neither due to the employers’ or employees’ actions, then the company should at least pay half the salary.”

The Malaysian Employers Federation has proposed that its members adopt a “nine plus five” formula for companies who find it hard to pay their workers during the 14 days of shutdown.

The proposal calls for employers to give an additional nine days of paid leave while employees spend five days of their annual leave, said MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan.

If a worker has exhausted his annual leave, he should take five days of unpaid leave, he said. – March 18, 2020.