Public Holidays In Malaysia

State labour law in a nutshell

THE Sarawak Labour Ordinance (SLO) was first enacted in 1959 and amended in 2005 to bring it in line with the provisions of the Employment Act 1955.

This broad purpose was to guarantee certain minimum standards in employment conditions.

Employers must abide by the provisions of the SLO.

Any terms and conditions in the employment contract which are inferior or less favourable to the employee shall be null and void even if the employee has signed such an agreement.

For example, if the employee signed a letter of appointment that states that her annual leave is five days, she will still be entitled to 8 days as per S105D of the SLO.

It is important to note that the SLO provides for the minimum benefits.

Employers and employees are free to agree to benefits that are higher than those in the SLO.

I would like to highlight these fundamental protection and benefits.

However, this article is certainly not exhaustive and is a general guide and thus should not be taken as a legal authority on the matter.

I would advise workers and employers to check with the Labour Department in case of doubt and on specific issues.

Who is covered under the SLO?

The SLO does not cover all employees. It only covers employees on a contract of service with an employer and whose wages do not exceed RM2,500 a month.

However because of the minister’s exemption, those earning RM2,000 to RM2,500 are not entitled to S104, S105, S105A & S105C of the Ordinance. (These Ordinances will be explained below)

Contract of service generally means those who are not independent contractors. Thus their hours of work are determined by employers and their work are under the control and supervision of the employer.

Manual workers irrespective of their monthly wages as well as drivers and mechanics of motor vehicles are also covered.

Domestic servants however are not covered under the SLO.

Employees outside the scope of the SLO will have to depend on their employment contract or join a trade union to bargain for them.

The following are the main provisions:

S104. Holidays

Every employee shall be entitled to a paid holiday on 17 of the gazetted Federal or State public holidays.

Five of the holidays — the National Day; the Birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong; the Birthday of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri Sarawak; Workers’ Day and Malaysia Day are compulsory and cannot be substituted.

Public Holiday 2011 : Graduan2U – Malaysia's Jobs & Career Portal

C) 31 August 2011 – National Day (Wednesday)

2. Please be informed that Section 3 of the Holiday Act 1951 (Revised 1989) states as follows:

“Public holidays

The several days mentioned in the First Schedule shall, except as hereinafter provided, be public holidays:

Provided that, save and except where-

(a) the state Authority in the case of any state; or (b) the Minister in the case of Federal Territory,

by notification in the Gazette otherwise provides, if any such public holiday shall fall on a weekly holiday in any State or in the Federal Territory, then the day following shall be a public holiday and if such day is already a public holiday, then the day following shall be a public holiday.”

3. In view of the foregoing, as National Day and the second day of Hari Raya Puasa fall on 31 August 2011, the following day that is Thursday, 1 September 2011 will be the public holiday for Hari Raya Puasa (Second Day). This will apply to member companies which recognise both days of Hari Raya Puasa as public holidays. For companies which only observe the first day of Hari Raya Puasa (30 August 2011) as a public holiday, then 31 August 2011 will remain as public holiday for National Day.

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