MEF Says Employers Can Recall Staff To Work In Office

The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) believes that it is insubordination if workers decline to return to work in office after a period of work-from-home arrangement during the various movement control orders (MCO).

MEF executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan stated that workers can ask to work from home but they cannot demand it. “Some businesses are still allowing their people to work from home because they are not fully operational yet,” he said.

“Some are doing it because they still want to maintain social distancing at the workplace.” He said there are also businesses facing a lack of demand for their products and they do not need all their employees to work in office.

Shamsuddin remarked that not all jobs will let people work from home as some need their physical presence at the workplace. Nevertheless, it is the employers’ right to determine whether their workers are expected to return to their offices for work, he added.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general J. Solomon stated an understanding between employee and employer is essential if the work-from-home arrangement is to continue. He added that right now, there is no law on the issue and the only reason it was approved was due to the MCO.

MTUC secretary-general said that the work-from-home arrangement must benefit both employers and employees.

“Some companies don’t mind their workers continuing to work from home until they are ready to meet the government’s SOP (standard operating procedures).

“If the work-from-home idea is to continue, it must be beneficial to both sides,” he said. Solomon stated that the employer has to provide the essential equipment to ensure an employee can continue working from home.

Electrical & Electronic manufacturing company Flex, which has about 15,000 staff here, had encouraged most of its non-production staff to work from home during the MCO. “Our non-production staff accounts for about 10% of our total staff,” a spokesman said.

“Throughout the MCO, despite working from home, I was told that productivity levels were unaffected and were good.” According to a report, 4.1 million Malaysians could fully work from home in just a few years. 

Source: The Sun Daily

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