The Howard Government launched this campaign on creating awareness on workplace agreements a few months ago. The advertisements are pretty good. I won't go into details but suffice to say the messages are clear - workers' rights are protected and the governmet takes great effort to see to that.
There's a Workplace Authority that makes sure employers buck up where workers' rights, benefits and minimum wages are concerned. Workplace inspectors are frequently sent out to various companies to make sure there are no hanky pankies on the employers' part.
And if new or existing employees have any doubt at all about their rights, there's an infoline they can use to call. It's printed in big, bold letters on their website, the advertisements, brochures, etc. All it takes is a phone call to know what you're entitled to as a worker within an organisation.
See how well workers are protected here? No wonder people hardly bitch about their work (and I mean bitching the Malaysian level); they are often efficient, friendly and helpful; and they don't have to resort to other means (bribery, stealing, robbing, etc) to have something extra.
Just the other day Alex fell sick and called his boss to say he wasn't coming to the office. His boss, Gary, was genuinely concerned and asked him to have a good rest. Gary even thanked Alex for calling to let him know. And guess what, you can take your sick leave without having to produce a medical certificate from your doctor. Yeah, the bosses here trust you not to abuse the your sick leave entitlement.
Now, if this had happened in an office in KL, the boss would probably sound a bit sarcastic. Some would even have the audacity to ask you to come in later in the day. And if you don't have an MC to prove you're sick, that's too bad for you.
I have no strong desire to join the workforce here - I already have a fulltime job being the household manager - but it's nice to know that my kids won't have to work like slaves when their time comes.
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5 comments:
yup, correcto mundo on that one. Another reason why malaysia is still a fooking third world country . . .
PS: Didn't see yer coomenst on me posting on hypocrisy during ramadan. Read comments, some pretty inflammatory ones by a Muslim friend.
And why people like Bala's Dad have my highest respect for doing what he's been doing for years...
we certainly need more people like your dad around in Malaysia, bala. it's so hard to treat workers badly here because their rights are protected and trade unions are so strong.
Typical la. I remember years ago, me dad was trying to set up a national union fer electrical workers. We were then the largest exporter of a/con parts & were employing huge numbers in the factories who were subjected to terrible working conditions & slave wages.eg workers at Matsushita had to strain their eyes looking thru microscope fer 8 hrs leading to many workers getting serious eye afflictions or even blindness. They were just sacked without comp.
Me dad who tried to set up union was labelled a "TROUBLE MAKER" & "RACIST ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE" fer daring to challenge UMNO's hard work. The irony is that 99% of workers in electrical industry was Malay . . .
thankless job, huh? but i bet it feels great to help so many others when so-called leaders shut one eye and keep the other close.
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