KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh today urged the government to provide a financial cushion for entrepreneurs, especially women, in Budget 2023 that will be tabled next month.
She said many employers in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who survived the Covid-19 economic crisis are now barely treading water with increased living costs, increased minimum wage and sharp labour shortage.
"The Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 should rightly be supported because it protects employees, but simultaneously the Government should have been prepared to soften the impact on employers.
"The Budget that will be tabled on the 7th October should consider the financial impact borne by the employers,” she said in a statement.
She suggested the government prepare incentives such as the payment of wages for SMEs where the employees are entirely or mostly women, and allowances so employers can find replacements for when their staff go on maternity or paternity leave.
She added that their struggle will be more dire when the amended Employment Act 1955 comes into force next year.
Yeoh, who is part of Parliament’s Special Select Committee on Women and Children Affairs and Social Development, also cited a survey of women entrepreneurs that found 78.7 per cent employed women below age 50 and that only 68.1 per cent were aware of the changes to maternity and paternity leave in the amended Employment Act.
"Hence, a significant portion of women would be adversely affected and many of them would be at the mercy of this amendment," Yeoh said.
She said the government should work to ensure that the amendment to the law would not cause discrimination to new mothers or fathers who require maternity and paternity leave and cause them to miss out on employment opportunities. She said that such situations could indirectly affect women's marketability as working women.
The amended Act was initially to take effect this month but was deferred to allow employers more time to prepare for implementation.
Employers have previously voiced their concerns over the implementation as multiple sectors are losing revenue due to worker shortage of at least 1.2 million workers.
The amendments include increased maternity leave from 60 to 98 days, paternity leave of seven days, reduced weekly working hours from 48 hours to 45 hours and the option of flexible working arrangement for employees.
