[EMPLOYMENT] Artificial Discrimination In The Workplace

During the Parliament sitting on 16 October 2023, the Minister of Human Resources, V. Sivakumar, highlighted that as of 30 September 2023, only 8 cases of discrimination have been reported to the Labour Department. None of these cases concerned discrimination in relation to mental or physical disabilities. In the circumstances, the Minister opined that there was no real need for a legislation to be enacted specifically to protect employees with mental or physical disabilities from discrimination at the workplace, as the current legislations in place are sufficient.

In arriving at his opinion, the Minister referred to the inclusion of an avenue for employees to lodge a complaint with the Labour Department regarding discriminatory practices in Section 69F of the recently amended Employment Act 1955 ("EA 1955"). Although this amendment to the EA 1955 marks a significant progress in Malaysia's efforts to tackle discrimination in the workplace more fervently, it remains