DISCIPLINARY issues, commitment to work, and a lack of monitoring mechanisms are among the reasons many employers do not want their employees to work from home.
The country's largest bosses' group, the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) said a 2022 survey it conducted identified eight main reasons why companies are against adopting flexible work arrangements (FWA).
Its president, Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman, said the main reason cited by some 200 employers in the MEF Fringe Benefits survey was due to the suitability of the nature of work (88.2 per cent).
The survey revealed that over 50 per cent of the respondents cited issues with employees' commitment to work and the need to monitor employees.
Other reasons include the inability to provide equipment for FWAs (47.2 per cent), eliminating unfairness among employees when only certain employees can opt for FWAs (47.2 per cent), no clear delineation between work and home (26.4 per cent), and leadership commitments (26.4 per cent).
Syed Hussein said the survey also found that over 64 per cent of companies that offered FWAs were facing difficulties in monitoring employees' working hours and performance.
They also faced difficulties identifying the types of work or tasks suitable for FWAs (53.4 per cent), finding a workplace suitable for FWAs implementation (51.5 per cent), detachment issues, (49.7 per cent), and communication problems (41.7 per cent).
"The survey also indicated that disciplinary issues were cited by 37.4 per cent of companies.
"Eliminating the issue of unfairness among employees was cited by 47.2 per cent of respondent companies as the reason for not implementing FWAs," he said.
A growing number of companies, including tech giants like Space X and Amazon, have instructed workers to return to the office.
Yesterday, Singapore's Channel News Asia reported that Grab will require its employees to work in the office five days a week.
Syed Hussein added that fostering trust between employers and employees was important for the smooth implementation of FWAs.
He also said the survey found that over 30 per cent of the respondents had implemented work from home (WFH), but only 6.1 per cent opted to maintain the policy permanently.
Over 31 per cent of the respondents mandated that their employees return to the office permanently, while 29.5 per cent allowed for hybrid working arrangements.
About 47 per cent of the respondents allowed for WFH arrangements on a case-by-case basis, while 42 per cent allowed only for employees who tested positive for Covid-19.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general Kamarul Baharin Mansor said any issues arising from the implementation of FWAs coud be addressed within the existing regulatory framework.
Currently, employers can apply for flexible working arrangements based on time, days and location of work under the Employment Act.
Such requests should be submitted to employers for feedback within 60 days. If an employer rejects an application, they must provide reasons for doing so.
Kamarul also said he believes that it is unfair for employers to dismiss FWAs solely based on their assumptions of the possible problems arising from their implementation.
"If employers want to implement FWAs, it needs to be done in a way that benefits both parties, including the employees, so issues such as workers' discipline should be addressed when they arise.
"We have methods and laws on how action can be taken (against problematic workers), and we can't assume that just because one person is causing issues, everyone will create the same problems," he said.