KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 9 — The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has urged the relevant bodies to conduct periodical checks following reports of employers failing to comply with the implementation of the 45-hour work week that came into effect on Jan 1.

Its secretary-general Kamarul Baharin Mansor said the Human Resources Ministry needs to take strong action against employers who failed to abide by the amendments done to the Employment Act 1955 and to prosecute them if necessary.

In a statement today, he said after a week of the amendments being enforced, there have been many complaints from employees and trade unions regarding the failure of employers to abide by them.

He added that there were even employers who changed company work practices by amending the terms of employment without the consent of their employees.

"Some employers are no longer paying their workers for their break hours. They have changed the terms of service so that the working hours are 45 hours,” he said.

In addition to reducing working hours from 48 to 45 hours per week, among other amendments to the act that came into effect on the same date was the increase of maternity leave from 60 days to 98 days and paternity leave from three days to seven days. — Bernama