No plans to make paid internship mandatory for companies yet: Hannah

KUALA LUMPUR – The Youth and Sports Ministry has no plans to force employers to allocate mandatory allowances for internships in the private sector.

In a statement by the ministry, it clarified that its minister Hannah Yeoh only encouraged the private sector to emulate measures taken by the government regarding paid internships during her press conference on Thursday.

Yeoh said this in response to a question by Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who urged the government to enforce paid internship programmes in the private sector; similar to the government sector.

“The government’s existing policy does not oblige any private company to pay allowances to students in industrial training programmes,” she said.

“However, the government strongly encourages private companies to emulate the government sector to also implement allowance payments to students who are undergoing industrial training.

She added that the consideration to enforce the granting of allowances for internships by the private sector needs to be examined from various aspects.

As most companies are still in the process of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, there are no plans to make allowances mandatory at this time.

Nonetheless, Yeoh said that the matter will be brought up to the cabinet, where its benefits and downsides will be further discussed.

Malaysian Employers Federation president Datuk Syed Hussain Syed Husman expressed his disagreement with Yeoh’s remarks about raising the matter of mandatory allowances for interns in the private sector to the cabinet.

He opined that not all companies are able to afford the payments, and instead suggested the government provide more incentives to employers to take in more interns.

Syed Saddiq, however, agreed with Yeoh’s suggestion, adding that said interns are not drudges and should not be exploited.

During his time in the ministry, the former youth and sports minister raised government allowances for interns at ministries and governmental agencies from RM300 to RM900. – The Vibes, February 18, 2023