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Thanks to our multi-racial community, Malaysians are blessed because we get to enjoy lots of Public Holidays.
Holidays Act 1951 provides for public and bank holidays, and it applies to the States of Peninsular Malaysia only. First Schedule of Holidays Act provides us with a list of Public Holidays that we observe (the ones in bold are compulsory):
- Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.)
- Hari Kebangsaan or National Day
- Chinese New Year (one day in the States of Kelantan and Terengganu, two days in the other States)
- Wesak Day
- Birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
- Hari Raya Puasa (2 days)
- Hari Raya Haji (two days in the States of Kelantan and Terengganu, one day in the other States)
- Deepavali
- Christmas day
S60D(1) Employment Act 1955 talks about the Entitlement to Public Holiday. Every employee is entitled to 11 gazetted public holidays, five (5) of which should be:
- National Day
- Birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
- Birthday of the Ruler of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, as the case may be or Federal Territory Day
- Workers’ Day
- Malaysia Day
Employers are free to choose the remaining six (6) public holidays listed in First Schedule, Holidays Act 1951 to make up the 11 days. S60D(1A) Employment Act 1955 provides that the employer is required to exhibit at the workplace a notice specifying the gazetted holidays that the employees are entitled to before 1st January of each year. If the company is silent on this, this could mean that the company observes all the public holidays provided under the First Schedule, Holidays Act 1951.
We have two (2) types of public holidays, those at the national and state levels. National holidays are public holidays that are generally observed by most governmental and private organisations, such as Chinese New Year, Labour Day, Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Wesak Day, Agong’s Birthday, Hari Raya Haji, Awal Muharram, National Day, Malaysia Day, Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday and Christmas Day. The Federal Government would declare a public holiday under S8 Holidays Act 1951 for the entire nation, for example, the General Election.
State holidays, it is normally observed by certain states in Malaysia or when it is relevant to the state itself according to S9(1) Holidays Act 1951. For example, in Kuala Lumpur, we celebrate a special holiday called Federal Territory Day along with only two (2) other territories on February 1 according to S9(2) Holidays Act 1951. Federal Territory Day in Kuala Lumpur celebrates the formation of the territory in 1974. Prior to that, Kuala Lumpur and the area now known as Putrajaya were under the state of Selangor.
It is important to note that compulsory holidays cannot be replaced or substituted, therefore it should always take precedence. If employees are required to work on any of these compulsory holidays, they must be paid the holiday rate of pay.
If any of the gazetted public holidays that are observed fall on the official rest day, or on another public holiday, the working day that immediately follows the rest day or public holiday must be the public holiday in substitution.
The confusion often arises when there is an overlap of public holidays. For example, back in February this year, we were faced with a unique scenario whereby the Federal Territory Day (“FT Day”), which fell on the 1st of February annually, overlapped with the first day of Chinese New Year (“CNY”). In other words, both FT Day and the first day of CNY fell on 1st February 2022.
As FT Day is a compulsory holiday which cannot be replaced or substituted, it will take precedence as a compulsory public holiday for those who work in the Federal Territories, i.e Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan; even though FT Day is understood to be a state holiday which applies only to the Federal Territories within Malaysia.
The first day of CNY also fell on 1st February, and therefore the working day that immediately follows the public holiday will be the public holiday in substitution. This is in accordance with S60D(1) Employment Act 1955.
To clarify this, we have two (2) points to look into:
i) For those companies that observe TWO public holidays for Chinese New Year (first and second day of CNY), then 3rd February 2022 is the public holiday in substitution of the first day of Chinese New Year for Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.
ii) For those companies that observe ONE (1) public holiday for Chinese New Year (first day of CNY), then 2nd February 2022 is the public holiday in substitution of the first day of Chinese New Year for Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan.
We should also keep in mind to read the Holidays Act 1951 together with Employment Act 1955 when we address this issue.
Credit & References:
– https://www.officeholidays.com/countries/malaysia/2022
– https://alexchanglaw.com/index.php/public-holidays-malaysia/
– https://www.ajobthing.com/blog/public-holidays-in-malaysia-what-employers-should-know
– A Practical Guide to the Employment Act 1955 by T. Balasubramaniam, CLJ Publication, 2012
Yin Chan is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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