THREE major hotel associations have signed a pledge with the Human Resources Ministry not to bar Muslim women staff from wearing the hijab, the New Straits Times reports.

Muslim women working in the hotel industry can now wear the hijab in more than 3,000 hotels that the associations represent, said the Human Resources Ministry.

Deputy Minister Ismail Muttalib said the associations who signed the pledge were the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners (MAHO) and Malaysia Budget Hotel Association (MyBHA)

“The ministry is grateful for the associations’ willingness to find an amicable solution to the issue and ensure that workers’ rights are not be discriminated against.

“Through this pledge, it is hoped that hotels under these associations will comply with the agreement. We hope the ‘no-tudung’ issue does not arise again,” he was reported as saying in a press conference after the pledge signing between the Labour Department and the three associations.

The Labour Department was represented by its director-general Mohd Jeffrey Joakim, MAH was represented by its president Cheah Swee Hee, Shaharuddin M Saaid represented the MAHO while MYBAH was represented by Mohamed Zamri Abd Rashid. 

Ismail said dialogues will be held with hotel human resource managers in Malaysia to raise awareness on workers’ rights and the ‘no tudung’ policy.

Last year, the MAH president Cheah said its policy of prohibiting front-line staff from wearing the hijab or tudung was in keeping with international practice and not meant to be discriminatory.