CMCO: Four working hours a day in the office is too short - MEF

KUALA LUMPUR: Working hours in the office from 10am to 2pm in the state office under the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) are seen as too short and harmful to employees.

The Executive Director of the Federation of Malaysian Employers (MEF), Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said the guidance announced by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) affected the operations of the industry and the companies involved.

“The set working hours of only four hours are too limited.

"We have to go to work from home and the distance can be far. Just to work for four hours, I feel the duration too short," he said when contacted by Astro AWANI on Wednesday.

In this regard, he hoped the government could look over the matter and consider allowing employees to work in the office during normal working hours for three days a week.

However, different views were voiced by the President of the National Union of Local Authority Employees of Peninsular Malaysia (ANULAE), Datuk Azih Muda.

Azih welcomed the MITI announcement in line with the current practice of new norms.

He said the MITI announcement was not a problem for the Local Authority (PBT) employees to work four hours a day with a maximum of 10 percent of employees covering certain tasks in the office.

“Working hours four hours is enough with the practice of the new norm. It does not mean after four, employees stop working.

"We use new norms such as working online and methods that are different from the existing ones," he said.

He admitted that it was a challenge for local government employees to practice this. He adds: “It’s not a problem as long as the COVID-19 chain could be broken.”

MITI allows a maximum of 10 percent of employees covering certain tasks to be in the office for four hours only from 10 am to 2 pm for three days a week.

The new working hours include, among others, tasks involving accounting, finance, administration, law, planning and information communication technology.