THE unrecorded leave for Deepavali, which falls on November 12 (Sunday), will be brought to November 14 for Hindu civil servants in states that observe Sunday as their weekend rest day, in addition to November 13 being a replacement holiday for the festival. 

Public Service Director-General Zulkapli Mohamed said the matter was subject to acceptance by the respective authorities.

“Unrecorded leave is bound to the authorised day only and cannot be brought to the next day if the unrecorded leave falls on a public holiday or weekend.

“However, the government, on November 3, agreed to grant an exemption for 2023,” he said in a circular posted on the Public Service Department portal today.

Zulkapli said the matter has been communicated to all state public services, statutory bodies and local authorities.

He said beginning 2018, the government had agreed to give Hindu civil servants a one-day unrecorded leave on the day after Deepavali for them to celebrate the Festival of Lights.

He said the matter was stated in the Human Resource Services Circular SR 5.3.6.

The extra day of unrecorded leave applies to all states in Malaysia except Sarawak, which does not observe Deepavali as a public holiday. – Bernama, November 7, 2023.