PUTRAJAYA: The public holiday on July 30 declared by the federal government in conjunction with the installation of the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong also applies as a paid holiday for employees in the private sector, the Human Resource Ministry announced today.
This is provided for under Section 60D(1)(b) of the Employment Act 1955, it said. The section, among others, states that “every employee shall be entitled to a paid holiday ... on any day appointed as a public holiday ...”.
Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah of Pahang will be installed as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on July 30 at Istana Negara in Kuala Lumpur.
The ministry said in a statement that based on the provision in the Employment Act, employers can replace the paid holiday with any other day.
“In this regard, all employers are required to inform their employees that they can either choose July 30 as the public holiday or replace it with another day. If no replacement is made, the employees who work on that day are eligible to receive the rate of pay as per a public holiday,” it said.
The statement said that for Sabah and Sarawak, this would be in accordance with their respective laws.
The ministry said the federal government declared the July 30 public holiday in accordance with Section 8 of the Holidays Act 1951 for Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan.
As for Pahang, the state government has announced July 30 and 31 as public holidays in the state.
“The announcement was made in conjunction with the birthday of Sultan Abdullah, who is the Sultan of Pahang, on July 30 as well as the date of His Majesty’s installation as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong,” the statement said.
In this regard, it said, July 31 is the replacement for the public holiday in the state for the installation holiday.
The ministry said it issued the statement to draw the attention of private-sector employers to their obligation to give the additional public holiday to their employers besides emphasising the right of employees to get the paid holiday for the public holiday in accordance with the provision of the labour laws. — Bernama
