KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Resources Department has received 14 complaints so far involving companies not allowing its female employees to enjoy 98 days of maternity leave.
Deputy Human Resources Minister Mustapha Sakmud told the Dewan Negara that three reports were also lodged involving companies rejecting the one-week paternity leave.
"The employer can be fined not more than RM50,000 if convicted," he said today.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Senator Roderick Wong Siew Lead on actions to be taken against companies committing the offence.
Earlier, Mustapha was responding to a question by Wong on whether maternity leave could be enforced in Sabah and Sarawak as well.
Mustapha said the amended Employment Act 1955, which came to force on Jan 1 this year, only covered states in the peninsula and also the Federal Territory of Labuan. He said that the Act does not cover Sabah and Sarawak, which has its own Labour Ordinance.
The respective states are in the process of amending their Labour Ordinance pertaining to the matter, he said.
The key amendments include the extension of maternity leave allocation from 60 days to 98 days, reduced weekly working hours from 48 to 45 hours, and a seven-day paternity leave for married male employees.
Senator Hussin Ismail then raised an additional question on whether the government would consider increasing the paternity leave to two weeks.
"Indonesia already has one-month paternity leave for husbands to assist their wives," he said.
Mustapha said paternity leave was only introduced this year, hence it would require a study to see if there was a need to increase the number of days.