Jun 18 2024, 12:57 AM, updated 2y ago
The original article was made by a third-party Business Member on HSBC Business Go.
State Holidays and National Holidays
11 Days to be Observed. (Five days compulsory and six days elective)
Public Holidays in Malaysia)
Recently, employers in Malaysia have expressed concern over the manner of announcing spontaneous public holidays on short notice. All these public holidays are listed in the First Schedule of the Holidays Act. The following are the ten specific public holidays stated in the schedule:
https://www.johor.gov.my/rakyat/cuti-umum
| **No.** | **5 Public Holiday in Malaysia that are compulsory** | **Date** |
| 1 | National Day | 31 August |
| 2 | Birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong | First Monday of June |
| 3 | Birthday of the Ruler or Yang di-Pertua Negeri / Sultan | Varies by state |
| or | Federal Territory Day (if applicable) | 1 February (for Federal Territories) |
| 4 | Workers' Day | 1 May |
| 5 | Malaysia Day | 16 September |
| # | Holiday | Duration |
| 1 | Chinese New Year | 2 days |
| 2 | Wesak Day | 1 day |
| 3 | * Workers' Day * | 1 May |
| 4 | Hari Raya Aidilfitri | 2 days |
| 5 | *Hari Kebangsaan / Hari Merdeka * | 1 day |
| 6 | Hari Raya Haji | 1 day |
| 7 | * Agong’s Birthday * | 1 day |
| 8 | * Malaysia Day * | 1 day |
| 9 | Deepavali | 1 day |
| 10 | Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday | 1 day |
| 11 | Christmas Day | 1 day |
| 12 | * Birthday of the Ruler or Yang di-Pertua Negeri / Sultan * | Varies by state | 1 day |
| or | * Federal Territory Day (if applicable) * | 1 February (for Federal Territories) | 1 day |
However, it should be noted that in Johor, Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu, New Year's Day (January 1) is not a public holiday, while it is a public holiday in all the other 8 states in Malaysia.
However, in Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu, Hari Raya Haji goes on for two days, while in most of the other states, it lasts for a single day.
State Holidays and National Holidays
Public holidays in Malaysia can be classified as the state or national ones. The above-listed official holidays are usually observed not only by the governmental structures but also by most commercial organizations.
While Malaysian states also observe state holidays as per section 9(1) of the Holiday’s Act, depending on their significance to the respective state.
Take for instance, Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia and two other federal territories namely Putrajaya and Labuan celebrate together during the yearly Federal Territory Day held on February 1st.
In addition, this celebration is required by Section 9(2) of The Holidays Act.
11 Days to be Observed. (Five days compulsory and six days elective)
The statutory public holidays that every employee is entitled to as provided for by Section 1 of the Holiday act (Section 8 of the Act and section 60D of the Employment Act) include the 11 gazetted ones and any day specified as a public holiday.
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Employers are not required to observe state level holidays. If employers do not declare such state level holidays as paid holiday; hence, the employees must work as usual for the days.
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However, there are several exceptions like Federal Territory Day that should be strictly observed within federal territories (KL, Putrajaya and Labuan).
In other states, the Ruler’s Birthday, also known as the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, should be commemorated.
Section 60D requires the employer to give a list of 11 gazetted public holidays to which employees are entitled before the start of each calendar year, 5 of which must be:
| # | Holiday | Duration |
| ---- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------- |
| 1 | National Day (Hari Kebangsaan) 31 August | 1 day |
| 2 | Yang Di Pertuan Agong’s Birthday | 1 day |
| 3 | The Birthday of the Ruler or The Yang-di Pertua Negeri or Federal Territory Day | 1 day |
| 4 | Labour’s Day (1 May) | 1 day |
| 5 | Malaysia Day ( 16 September ) | 1 day |
******* The remaining 6 days will be chosen by the employers to make it 11 days.
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This provision empowers employers to designate whether employees should work on specific occasions such as Chinese New Year, Hari Aidilfitri, or Deepavali. It is important to highlight that employers are required to specify the 11 officially designated public holidays.
The Minister has the discretion to declare additional holidays.
The Minister has the mandate of coming up with additional public holidays, as per Section 8 of the Holidays Act. The provision empowers the Minister to declare any day a Public Holiday in the Peninsular, Federal Territories, or certain States following consultation.
Surprise public holidays declared by the Malaysian government in 2021-2023:
| # | Date | Event |
| ----- | ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 1 | April 21, 2023 | Hari Raya Aidilfitri |
| 2 | November 28, 2022 | Formation of unity government and appointment of Malaysia’s 10th Prime Minister |
| 3 | December 3, 2021 | KL team winning Malaysia Cup (Wilayah Persekutuan only) |
However, it’s important to mention that the Employment Act is applicable only to Peninsular Malaysia and West Malaysia whereas labour legislation in Sabah and in Sarawak prevails separately.
Is it within legal bounds for an employer to mandate that employees work on an officially declared public holiday?
Section 60 Employment Act
| Regulation | Requirement |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Section 60 of the Employment Act | An employer can request an employee to work on a paid holiday. |
| Public holiday pay | The ordinary rate of pay on public holidays should be at least twice the ordinary rate of pay on working days. |
| Overtime pay rate | Shall never fall below 3 times the rate of pay during working days. |
| Section | Provision |
| ---------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Section 60D(3)(b) | If an employee works on a holiday and is entitled to a travel allowance per their contract, they should receive this allowance. Additionally, any housing or food allowance should be increased accordingly. |
Does this mean that private sector employees are only entitled to 11 public holidays per year, while government servants have around 19 public holidays?
Do MNCs in Malaysia give all 19 public holidays to their employees?
Do staff at 7-Eleven, Mr DIY, Senheng, AEON, fast food chains, Shell, Caltex, Petronas, BHP, and Petron receive 11 days or 19 days of public holidays?
Bank, insurance companies, mutual fund companies, official car dealers, and post office staff surely get all public holidays.
Developers like SP Setia and Eco World also open on public holidays.
So not all developers staff rest on public holidays.
But there is a replacement holiday for Sunday if a holiday falls on Saturday in Johor state, because Johor's rest days are Friday and Saturday.
This post has been edited by plouffle0789: Sep 13 2024, 09:11 AM
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