5 June, 2019
On 28 April 2019, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) has recently published the second Draft of the Labour Code (Draft Labour Code) aiming at replacing the current Labour Code (Current Labour Code), for public comments.
Some of the key provisions contained in the Draft Labour Code include:
(i) Increase in the overtime hours
The Draft Labour Code proposes to increase overtime hours from 300 hours per year (as prescribed in the Current Labour Code) to 400 hours per year, with a maximum cap of 12 hours per day for the combined official working hours and overtime hours.
(ii) Increase in retirement age
(a) The Current Labour Code provides that the retirement age for male and female worker is 60 years and 55 years respectively;
(b) The Draft Labour Code proposes an increase in the retirement age for male workers from 60 to 62 years, and for female workers from 55 to 60, as from 1 January 2021 in accordance with one of the two following schedules:
- Schedule 1: Increase by three months per year with respect to men and four months per year with respect to women from 1 January 2021; and
- Schedule 2: Increase by four months per year with respect to men and six months per year with respect to women from 1 January 2021.
(iii) New provisions regarding Representative Organisations
The Draft Labour Code provides that employees have the right to establish and join the organisation of their choosing representing the employees at the grassroots level (Representative Organisation).
(iv) Changes to public holidays
(a) The Draft Labour Code proposes two options for public comment:
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The first option is to maintain the possibility for employees, if the Lunar New Year Holiday coincides with a weekly day off, to take weekly days off on the following working days;
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The second, alternative, option is to reduce the Lunar New Year Holiday so that if the Lunar New Year Holiday coincides with a weekly day off, the employees are no longer allowed to take a weekly day off on the following working day;
(b) In addition, the Draft Labour Code proposes to include the “War Invalids and Martyrs Day” (which occurs on July 27th of each calendar year) as a public holiday.
(v) Better protection for employees and no discrimination on female employees
(a) Under the Draft Labour Code, legal protection is extended to employees who do not have a written employment contract. Specifically, the Draft Labour Code provides that a labour contract entered into by electronic means in the form of data messages in accordance with the law on electronic transactions is also deemed to be a written labour contract;
(b) The Draft Labour Code provides a definition of sexual harassment in the workplace, meanwhile the Current Labour Code does not define the concept of “sexual harassment in the workplace”;
(c) Under the Draft Labour Code, female employees are no longer prohibited from doing certain jobs. Article 160 of the Current Labour Code lists out works which must not be assigned to female employees, while the Draft Labour Code only prohibits to assign “work which has an adverse effect on the ability to bear and raise a child” without expressly prohibiting all female workers from performing such work.
For further information, please contact:
Mark Fraser, CEO/ Managing Partner, Frasers Law Company
mark.fraser@fraservn.com
