Commissioner Speaks On Maternity Leave
By M K Anwar

Bandar Seri Begawan - Commissioner of Labour Hj Omar bin Hj Abd Rahman, in his letter to the Bulletin, took up several issues that have been raised in the paper's Opinion Column.

These issues include "Need Help With Maternity Leave" by Every Woman, "Confusions Over Maternity Leave" by Sad Teacher, and "No Maternity Leave Shock" by EC.

These letters, the commissioner said, demonstrated that employers are not fully aware of the existing law on maternity leave, leaving employees feeling exploited.

He stated in his letter that according to Section 83 (1) of the Labour Act, "every female worker shall be entitled to abstain from work four weeks before and after confinement and in respect of such periods, hereinafter jointly referred to as the `benefit periods', she is to receive from her employer maternity benefits in accordance with the provisions of the succeeding subsections of this law".

He added that Section 82 (2) and (3) of the same act also stated that a female worker who has worked for the employer from whom she claims maternity benefits on no less than 180 days within the period of one year or no less than 90 days within the period of six calendar months immediately proceeding the notice required under Section 87 shall be paid maternity benefits during the benefit period at such rate as may be prescribed under subsidiary legislation rules Section 121 on Labour (Maternity Benefits) Rules.

The provision mentioned above clearly indicates that every female employee is entitled to maternity leave of four weeks each before and after confinement subject to the requirements under Section 83 (2) and (3) of the act, the commissioner said.

"However, I must point out that under the Labour Act, workers are referred to as manual labour, which excludes clerical staff.

"I quote from Section 2 that the interpretation of `worker' means `a labourer, servant in husbandry, journeyman, artificer, handicraftsman, miner or other person engaged in manual labour or in recruiting such or in supervising in person any workman in and throughout the performance of his work, who has entered into and works under the agreement or contract with an employer, including immigrant workers and any person, other clerical staff, employed in the operation or maintenance or mechanically-propelled vehicles used for transporting of passengers or goods for hire or for commercial purposes but does not include an apprentice or seaman engaged in ship articles," he further explained.

As shown, the definition does not cover all categories of workers and may draw other interpretations as the present Labour Act has not been revised since 1954.

Such loophole in the act has been taken into account together with other social protections or benefits in drafting the new act, which will replace the Labour Act.

The Employment Act, said the commissioner, is now in the final process of drafting.

However, the absence of such provision in the current act has been the practice of the Department of Labour to apply the "spirit" of the act when dealing with labour cases involving "staff workers" such as advising the employers not to impose the terms of contract less favourable than that stated in the Labour Act.

The commissioner also urged those who seek further clarification to contact Assistant Commissioner of Labour Shariful Bahri bin Hj Sawas or Senior Labour Inspector Rosli Matnoor at 238 2802 or 238 3006 (ext 4500) during office hours or the Enforcement Section hotline at 238 1848. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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