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Daily Express
29-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Express
Public Services Department gives final deadline for 45-hour work week for nurses
Published on: Thursday, May 29, 2025 Published on: Thu, May 29, 2025 By: K Parkaran, FMT Text Size: The Malayan Nurses Union had voiced strong protest against the additional hours, saying ward nurses were already under undue pressure working for 42 hours a week. PETALING JAYA: The public services department (JPA) has given the health ministry a two-month extension for the implementation of the 45-hour work week for ward nurses. In a letter to the ministry's secretary-general yesterday, JPA said the new date would be Aug 1. Adding that this would be the final extension, it urged hospitals to strictly follow its circular on the new working hours. 'The interim extension due to end on June 1 will now be extended to Aug 1. This is the final extension. All directives issued on the matter must be complied with,' it said. However, it said the extension did not mean that health facilities which had already drawn up plans for the new shift hours could not proceed. 'With this extension, we hope that the health ministry will take the necessary measures to ensure that the implementation of the new work hours is carried out accordingly.' Advertisement JPA initially approved a period of three months from Dec 1 last year for hospitals to prepare for the implementation of a 45-hour work week. The health ministry subsequently requested and received approval for an extension of the moratorium from March 1 to May 31. This was later extended again to June 1. The Malayan Nurses Union had voiced strong protest against the additional hours, saying ward nurses were already under undue pressure working for 42 hours a week. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
13-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
Johor land department ordered to stop asking for ‘surat akuan' from lawyers
Published on: Tuesday, May 13, 2025 Published on: Tue, May 13, 2025 By: K Parkaran, FMT Reporters Text Size: The Johor Lands and Mines Department was held to have gone against the National Land Code in requiring declarations from lawyers and their clients. (Website pic) JOHOR BAHRU: The Johor Lands and Mines Department has been ordered to stop requiring lawyers and their clients to give undertakings on the authenticity or truth of documents submitted for processing. In a decision last month, the Court of Appeal declared as null and void any documents signed, obtained, or received prior to the date of the court's order. The court held that the practice, which had been in place since 2022, went against the National Land Code. The Johor Lands and Mines Department (PTG) the registrar of titles, and state land administrators were ordered to immediately cease the practice of asking for the undertakings. Lawyers had been required since 2022 to submit a declaration (surat akuan) and their clients to submit an undertaking (akuan pemohon) attesting to the authenticity of documents submitted for processing. They were also required to give an undertaking that they would not subject the PTG to any legal action. The court's orders came when it allowed an appeal by the Bar Council against a high court decision in August 2023 to dismiss the Bar's application for a judicial review of the department's actions. In its appeal, the Bar said it was illogical and unreasonable for the department to ask a person to vouch for information and documents supplied by a different party or parties about which the applicant has no knowledge. Signing the 'surat akuan' also meant a person dealing with PTG must relinquish their future legal rights. The Bar argued that the High Court judge failed to appreciate that the forfeiture of rights requirement was 'irrational, unreasonable, self-serving, against public policy and is likely to produce absurd outcomes of penalising victims of fraud'. The appeal was heard by Justices Lee Swee Seng, Choo Kah Sing and Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh. Yeo Yang Poh, Fadhil Ihsan and Syahmi Nawawi represented the Bar Council while assistant state legal advisor Adzam Zainal Abidin appeared for the state land authorities. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
05-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Express
Company used separation scheme to avoid paying retrenchment, court rules
Published on: Monday, May 05, 2025 Published on: Mon, May 05, 2025 By: K Parkaran, FMT Text Size: Canon Opto's downsizing of its workforce in June 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, amounted to a retrenchment, the Industrial Court said. (Facebook pic) PETALING JAYA: A camera lens manufacturer placed some workers in a mutual separation scheme five years ago to avoid paying out retrenchment benefits, the Industrial Court has ruled. The court questioned the company's decision to downsize its workforce 'all of a sudden' during the Covid-19 pandemic, when movement restrictions were in place, 'unless the company decided to reduce its workforce during that period'. S Vanithamany, chairman of the industrial court in Kuala Lumpur, said the downsizing 'in essence is a retrenchment', which would have demanded higher rates of compensation. The court held that Canon Opto (M) Sdn Bhd, which has a factory in Shah Alam, had violated the collective agreement for failing to consult the union on the separation scheme. In a judgment handed down recently, the court said the management chose not to consult or notify the union on the ground that the collective agreement touched only on retrenchment and not a mutual separation scheme. However, Vanithamany said the company is required to consult the union, representing the workers, whenever it makes a decision which involves massive (number of) employees and especially with regards to their employment. Vanithamany held that those selected for the downsizing were not redundant nor surplus to requirements. In June 2020, the company offered separation letters to 59 workers who were selected based on what the company termed as poor performers and those who had taken too many days off on sick leave. They were offered compensation at a flat rate of 0.8 of their basic salary for each year served, while the collective agreement set out one month's salary for each year for those with up to 10 years' service, and 1.25 months' salary for those with more than 10 years. The offer led to a protest by the Canon Opto Workers' Union who said they were not consulted as required. Vanithamany said the employees may have been misled into accepting the separation scheme because of the lack of advice from the union. They may have decided differently if the union had been involved, she said. 'In the absence of the union involvement, the element of voluntariness is unacceptable,' she held. Vanithamany heard the case with a panel comprising employees' representative Nor Adzlan Mohd Jazlan and employer's representative Ku Sim Ling. Munjit Singh and Alfred Iruthiaraj from the Malaysian Trades Union Congress appeared for the union while David Tan Seng Keat defended the company. When contacted, Munjit said the union will now be seeking compensation for the former employees. * Follow us on Instagram and join our Telegram and/or WhatsApp channel(s) for the latest news you don't want to miss. * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
