KUALA LUMPUR: The government has prepared guidelines on flexible working arrangements, including work-from-home in line with the new normal due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said 12 toolkits for different categories have been outlined in ensuring both employers and staff understand the arrangement while promoting work-life balance among them.
They are Work from Home (WFH), Flexi Hours, Seasonal Work, Job Sharing, Modified Role, Phased Retirement, Compressed Work Week, Leaving Early from Work, Employee's Choice of Day-Off, Shift Swapping, Staggered Hours and Reduced Work.
"The guidelines highlight critical factors that need to be taken into account by employers in making decisions to implement flexible working arrangements including industry suitability, as well as type and the level of jobs," he said in a parliamentary written reply to a question from Rozman Isli (Warisan-Labuan).
Saravanan said the WFH must be expanded to all sectors as a measure to prepare a conducive and flexible work environment, especially in supporting women to return to the workforce through the flexible arrangement.
He said the government was of the view that the expansion of flexible working arrangements like WFH practises could help companies to continue economic activities and offer better benefits, especially during the Movement Control Order (MCO).
He said the government, through TalentCorp, has implemented Work Life Practices or WLPs since 2015.
"The programme comprised various services for employees like flexible working arrangements, WFF, part-time work, extended maternity leave and child day-care centres at offices.
"Over 200 companies have adopted the Work Life Practises between 2015 and 2019 through awareness programmes to encourage small and medium enterprises to practise work-life balance."
A study in 2017 on 369 selected employers revealed that WFH was singled out as the flexible work arrangement mostly offered to targeted groups.
The survey and report however showed that only 16 per cent of them adopted WFH.
"Nevertheless, 83 per cent of employers have and are considering it as a continuous company policy as both employers and employees agreed that work quality remains despite working from home."
Saravanan said the work-life practise balance was enhanced with the gazettement of Income Tax (Deduction for Costs of Implementation of Flexible Work Arrangements) Rules 2021 on Oct 4.
Through the gazette, he said TalentCorp has been given the mandate as the agency to recognise the implementation of the arrangement or enhancement to the flexible working arrangement in companies.
In addition, the Employment Act amendment bill was also tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Oct 25, he said.
Among the proposed amendments were inclusion of a new part (XIIC) in relation to provisions for flexible work arrangements that contain two sections.
The sections covered employee applications to the employers to change work days or location of work related to the job, subject to Part XII of Act 265 (Employment Act), on rest days, hours of work, holidays and other conditions of service or any other things mentioned in the service contract and application for flexible work arrangements to the ministry's Labour Department.