KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — Human Resource Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot has advised employees addicted to Pokemon Go not to play the game at work, saying this could affect productivity.

Reduced productivity could result in losses, salary cuts and retrenchments, he said when commenting on the Pokemon Go craze which is reported to have swept many countries, with many employees playing the game during working hours.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Malaysia Productivity-Linked Wage Conference here, he said: "What happens when productivity rate goes down?  Salaries cannot be paid, thus retrenchment can happen.”

Riot said he dealt with thousands of cases of employees that had been sacked or asked to leave.

"Some companies were not able to pay their employees salaries and every week I handle not less than 1,000 cases of employees sacked or asked to leave their jobs for various reasons, some due to their own misconduct,” he said.

Asked if employers were complying with the minimum wage requirement, he said it was too soon for the ministry to ascertain.

He said the ministry expected to know in three months whether companies were complying with the minimum wage order 2016 which took effect on July 1.

The minimum wage was set for RM1,000 per month for Peninsular Malaysia and RM920 for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan. — Bernama