Workplace Bliss

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.