KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — The Sabah Labour Ordinance amendment Bill will only be tabled in the next parliamentary meeting at the earliest, Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud said today.
He said this was to allow more time for the Bill to be finetuned as the amendment was significant.
“The amendment Bill was originally slated to be tabled in November; however, to ensure that all matters related to the amendment have been taken into account.
“The Human Resources Ministry has been fine-tuning the amendment to ensure that it covers 187,000 employers and over two million workers in Sabah,” Mustapha told a press conference at the Parliament building here today.
He said the review process should be complete and the draft Bill sent to the Attorney General’s Chambers for its approval.
“As soon as the approval is obtained, it will be presented to the Cabinet to obtain approval before it can be brought to Parliament,” he added.
In October 2022, the Sabah government had agreed to amend the Sabah Labour Ordinance whereby it will be standardised with the Employment Act 1955.
The proposed amendments will include increasing the maternity leave eligibility period from the current 60 days to 98 days and paternity leave from three days to seven days, allowing workers in Sabah to enjoy the same benefits already accorded to their counterparts in the peninsula.
The Sabah Labour Ordinance came into effect on January 1, 1950, and since then it was only amended once that is in 2005 compared to the Employment Act that has been amended 12 times.
