KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) is calling for an overhaul of maternity leave policies for government employees.
The current policy, which grants between 60 and 90 days of leave, is deemed insufficient compared to the 98 days mandated for private sector employees under last year’s amended Employment Act 1955.
MMA president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz expressed concerns over the disparity, highlighting its negative impact on the health and well-being of new mothers and their infants, online news outlet Free Malaysia Today reported today.
“Unfortunately, this causes a double standard between the public and private sectors. Currently, a civil servant may get up to 38 fewer maternity leave days than their counterparts in the private sector,” she was quoted as saying.
She emphasised the importance of adequate maternity leave for maternal recovery, breastfeeding, and mother-child bonding, adding that reducing this period would put undue stress on dedicated medical officers and impact the quality of care they can provide once they returned to work prematurely.
The issue came into sharp focus recently when the Hulu Langat health office approved only 60 days of maternity leave for seven medical officers, sparking controversy.
While the Public Service Department (JPA) initially defended the decision as within regulations, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad eventually intervened to grant the full 90 days, the report was quoted as saying.
While appreciating the health minister’s intervention, Dr Azizan criticised the ministry’s human resource management, citing it as a root cause of various problems in the public healthcare system.
Despite the health minister’s pledge to improve healthcare workers’ welfare, she said a gap persists at the operational level regarding the workforce’s needs, as highlighted by this recent incident.
She reiterated MMA’s call for a digital system to optimise the distribution of healthcare personnel nationwide.
