blog




  • Essay / Types of Workplace Discrimination in Malaysia

    Workplace discrimination which is an unfair practice can occur in a number of situations such as pregnancy discrimination, religious issues, gender bias, discrimination against people with disabilities, as well as different national origin. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay As women, pregnancy is part of their identity and reproductive capacity. Therefore, pregnant women should not be discriminated against, particularly in employment. He or she may be aware that discriminatory practices often occur in hiring, job placement, promotion, termination, compensation, and harassment. Although Malaysia has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and added the word "gender" to Article 8(2) of the Federal Constitution to prohibit discrimination , cases of discrimination still occur today. Refers to Beatrice A/P In the case of Fernandez v Sistem Penerbangan Malaysia & Ors, Beatrice was a flight attendant for Malaysian Airlines System. According to the collective agreement, it is stipulated that all flight attendants must resign once they become pregnant. Beatrice refused to resign when she became pregnant and was fired from Sistem Penerbangan Malaysia. She filed suit in the High Court and Court of Appeal, claiming that the collective agreement discriminated against pregnant workers and therefore contravened Article 8 of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. This is a case in which the Court of Appeal decided that it was preferable for the applicant's application to be dismissed at this stage (Court of Appeal) to avoid unnecessary additional legal costs for her , as the Court noted that Article 8(1) only applies to an individual under the Act and the collective agreement was governed by private law, so Article 8 could not be applied in this case. Another case is that of Noorfadilla Binti Ahmad Saikin versus Chayed Bin Basirun and others. This case involved a person who accepted an offer to become a temporary teacher in a public school. The moment the employer found out she was pregnant, he canceled the job offer. Noorfadilla appealed to the court for interest, damages and costs. The parties being sued included the officer, the federal government, the Minister of Education and the Director General of Education. According to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), this case includes direct discrimination that uses pregnancy to prevent women from working and indirect discrimination by which both men and women are not treated equally. From these two cases we can see that there is a law that can guarantee equality to everyone, but in certain circumstances, problems of discrimination between men and women can still exist in our modern society. Employers have a responsibility to handle pregnancy appropriately, as discrimination based on pregnancy is illegal. The dress code is “a set of applications defined by the company to help provide its employees with guidance on appropriate application and the responsibilities lie with employers in setting the standard. '. A correct dress code in a job could protect employees from discrimination, establishing a work culture as wellas appropriate to the work environment. Some employers are required to have a professional dress code due to health and safety standards. However, employers must ensure that their dress codes do not discriminate against any employee. There was an instance where the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) defended the policy of some hotels prohibiting their frontline staff from wearing hijab or headscarf and claimed that it was a practice international organization that followed a standard operating procedure and policy. The argument raised was more discriminatory and does not exist in international standard operating procedures. This deters Muslim women from imposing hijab. There is no connection between the hijab ban and the employee's ability to perform her job competently or efficiently. Thus, wearing the hijab has no relation to the employee's job performance. Being a multiracial country with citizens who hold diverse religious beliefs, freedom of religion is among the fundamental rights under Article 11 of the Federal Constitution, which states: "Everyone has the right to profess and practice his religion. religion ". However, one of the sportswear retailers, JD Sports Malaysia, store supervisor, was found to be prohibiting Muslim employees from praying and the store supervisor was fired. The retailer immediately apologized and clarified that it treats this matter seriously and respects all forms of religious and cultural beliefs. Referring to an article in FMT News, Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Datuk Hj Shamsuddin Bardan said “Muslim employees should not view compliance with their religious requirements as a constraint to doing their work, while employers should adopt a certain form. flexibility. He also suggested that Muslim employees should compensate for the time spent in prayer by extending their working hours, while the employer should be more flexible by allowing employees to eat lunch later so that they can pray during lunch hours . It is illegal for employers to discriminate based on an individual's customs and religious beliefs, provided it does not result in undue negative consequences for the employer. Discrimination against women is classified as sex discrimination. If a company does not provide equal opportunities to its employees, it is committing gender discrimination. This is unfair and unequal treatment when it comes to employment opportunities, especially for women. Job opportunities include promotions, salary increases, decision-making, project participation, benefits, and salary differences. Additionally, transgender people are also targets of gender discrimination in the workplace. Nowadays, the success of women in various professional fields is no longer in doubt, because their ability to compete with men has been proven. However, some organizations still do not fully trust women as they are seen as weak due to negative gender perception and also incapable of being leaders on par with men. This results in women not benefiting from promotional opportunities, especially when working in technical fields. Discrimination based on sex affects not only the productivity of the employee, but also their mental peace, their quality of life at work, their relationships at home as well as in the workplace. Hora (2014) mentioned that women have noonly refused to move to higher management positions, but also stopped resorting to higher education, which would make them more developed in terms of skills and also give them a lot of experience in learning and applying of managerial decision-making. methods, help them build their self-confidence to occupy and control management positions. According to Department of Statistics Malaysia data from 2018, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) for women was 55.2% and for men it was 80.4%. Across all age groups, the activity rate of men was even higher than that of women. Apart from this, employers will be prohibited, on the basis of gender discrimination, from paying salaries to men and women with the same qualifications, responsibilities, skill levels and positions. They will also prohibit lowering the salary of one sex in order to equalize salaries between men and women. Discrimination against persons with disabilities (PWDs) is not a new problem in society. Discrimination is an ongoing challenge that all people with disabilities face and hope to overcome. (40) The right to work is of fundamental importance for everyone, whether normal or not. The ability to obtain employment allows a person to improve their individual economic situation, self-esteem, participate socially and acquire knowledge and skills. Unfortunately, these disabled people faced unemployment, which is becoming a global problem today. In Malaysia, the government enacted the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008 to provide equal opportunities and diversity in the workforce for persons with disabilities. According to the Malaysian Persons with Disabilities Act 2008 (Act 685), “persons with disabilities include those who suffer from long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation to society. ". People with disabilities who want to actively participate in the workforce benefit both individuals and society. With the People with Disabilities Act 2008, equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities could improve their quality of life, enabling them to integrate into society, thereby contributing to their self-esteem and their insurance. Additionally, being able to work and provide for themselves and their families would give them a sense of autonomy. In fact, in Malaysia, the proportion of people with disabilities in the workforce is significantly lower than that of people without disabilities. There are seven categories of disabilities, namely hearing impairment, visual impairment, speech impairment, learning disability, physical, mental and multiple disabilities. There are few companies or businesses that have hired persons with disabilities as employees, namely Starbucks Malaysia, Autism Café Project, McDonald's Malaysia, Giant Hypermarkets, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Dialogue in the Dark, AEON Malaysia, etc. Nowadays, many employers are still afraid of hiring people with disabilities in their organization and do not give them the opportunity to apply for a vacant position. Although there are many regulations stating that people with disabilities should have equal opportunity to be employed in an organization, they often still face significant barriers to employment, such as lack of employer understanding the needs of disabled employees where a workplace is not available. respectful of.