EMPLOYERS are allowed to have 10% of their management and supervisory staff work on site for four hours a day, three days a week under the government’s compulsory work from home measures to fight the Covid-19 pandemic in high-risk areas, International Trade and Industry Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali said.

According to Azmin, this applies to employees in accounting, finance, administration, legal, planning and information communication technology.

“Taking into account the needs of industries that need a small number of workers at management and supervisory level, the ministry will allow a maximum of 10% of employees (in the specified roles) to be at the office up to a limit of four hours a day, from 10am to 2pm, for three days a week,” he said in a statement.

An infographic released by Miti explains the directive using the example of an employer with 1,000 workers and 100 management and supervisory employees. In such a case, all 1,000 in the first group and 10 in the second group are allowed to work on site.

In such a scenario, employers do not need to apply to Miti, he added.

“They only need to prepare travel letters for each staff member for the duration of the conditional movement control order (CMCO).”

The CMCO is currently in force in Sabah until October 26; in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya until October 27; and in Labuan until October 30.

Azmin said employers are also urged to make the necessary arrangements for their workers to work from home.

The work from home directive was decided by the National Security Council and announced by Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob yesterday.

It will take effect tomorrow, and applies mostly to staff at managerial and supervisory levels.

Ismail Sabri said workers allowed on site are to take a Covid-19 swab test, the cost of which can be covered by Socso if their employer is a fund contributor.

However, following his announcement Twitter has been awash with complaints about the lack of clarity, such as over when on-site workers are expected to take their Covid-19 test and get the results in time before the directive is enforced tomorrow.

Azmin today said the decision to enforce the work from home directive was made to limit the movement of people in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, which are densely populated and the country’s primary industrial hubs.

In all the CMCO areas combined, he said there are 3.1 million workers in the manufacturing, services and construction sector, of which, more than 770,000 or around 25% of them are in the management and supervisory levels.

“It is this category of workers who are to work from home from October 22,” Azmin said. – October 21, 2020.