PETALING JAYA: The government's move to clarify the position of part-time workers may open up a number of issues, said economic observers.
DAP's MP for Klang and economist Charles Santiago said there was a danger that full-time staff would not be allowed to work overtime.
He claimed that employers might hand that overtime period to part-timers instead.
Asked if this practice was ongoing in Malaysia, he said although it was not prevalent, it was certainly taking place.
Santiago cited a factory in Ipoh that brought in a new shift of workers after the full-timers were done with their eight-hour day shifts.
He also said that this problem was more common in small-medium enterprises (SME) than in larger corporations. "SMEs can get away with murder," he added.
Santiago also said that by giving part-timers a chance, employers might take advantage by “short-changing” their existing workers.
He said that part-time workers were less likely to join unions in areas such as service sectors and fast-food chains. This in turn had the potential to create a less loyal workforce.
However, RAM (Ratings Agency Malaysia) Holdings Berhad chief economist, Yeah Kim Leng called the ruling an “excellent move”.
Yeah said the ruling presented a flexible arrangement for employers, adding that it would lead to a better structure with part-timers.
"(In the past) part-timers (suffered) from the lack of incentives, leave and medical coverage," he said, adding that it would encourage the unemployed to take up work.
Nevertheless, Yeah said that the government needed to provide more skills training and education to employees in the country.
By doing so, he said that it would increase the country's skills pool as well as employees' productivity.
The RAM economist also said that employees deserved greater protection as well as better benefits, including paid leave.
According to the Human Resources Ministry, part-timers would not be entitled to paid maternity leave as well as termination benefits.
They make take up two jobs
Malaysian Employer's Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Barban said that the ruling would help employers to hire local workers instead of foreigners.
"Now you (can) have two local workers (for the same period) instead of one foreign worker," he said.
However, Shamsuddin was worried that the new regulation would encourage full-time workers to take up second jobs.
"This is a major issue, so the ministry has to clarify this," Shamsuddin said. "I don't think any employer would like his employee to take up a second job after normal working hours."
Citing a conflict of interest, Shamsuddin was worried that workers might end up being physically tired as a reuslt and this would lead to more workplace accidents.
Asked what the government should concentrate on, Santiago said: "What we need in this country is a minimum wage that's decent enough.That will reduce the chances of foreign workers coming in."
He also said that Malaysians were less likely to go for more dangerous and low-paying jobs, leaving them for foreign workers.
Shamsuddin, however, disagreed. "At the end of the day, what is the income level to the employee concerned?” he said. “The employer cannot (just) pluck extra money out of the air.”
The new regulation classified part-time workers as those who worked from 14.4 to 33.6 hours a week.
As a result, part-timers would enjoy some protection and security, including Employee Provision Fund (EPF) and SOCSO (Social Security Organisation) contributions from their employers.
The Work Regulation (Part-time Workers) 2010, which comes under the Employment Act of 1955, comes into effect today.
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