Employers lose up to RM8 billion due to fake medical leaves

It is estimated that employers in the country tend to lose up to RM8 billion a year due to employees taking fake medical leaves given by clinics and health centres.

Secretary of the Malaysian Employers Federation, Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan said the loss includes the payroll of the employee on medical leave, medical costs and the cost of replacing the employee on medical leave.

"There are some cases that we know of employees have been certified as sick and is given medical leave from doctors. But these employees, instead of resting at home, they do other jobs like selling nasi lemak, pisang goreng and so on,” he said.

Samsuddin added, that the current economic pressures have forced some workers to make business as a source of side income and thus medical leave is taken to garner more income.

"We also know that workers in Malaysia mostly see a doctor not for treatment and medication but to take leave. In fact, some patients scold the doctors and there are several reports from the doctors on this matter," he said.

He added that this unethical act will not only impact the industry, but the governing laws under the industry as well.

In addition to taking medical leave for business purposes, MEF also found that employees take medical leave as an extension after their rest days as a form of protest towards an employers.

A study by MEF found that the Malaysian industry loses four percent of working days due to medical leaves taken by employees.

According to a statistic by CUEPACS, three percent of public servants fake their medical leave to skip work.

The fake medical leave became a matter of concern when it was reported that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will work with the Health Ministry to carry out investigations on counterfeiting medical leave to deceive employers and earn more money.