EMBER ll, 2016
In almost all Asean· countries, women tend to .find employment in low-skilled jobs, hence, creating a pers.istent gender wage gap that leaves little scope for them to increase their Income.
~eived as a discrimina-·
we must not be obliv- :t that some of the jobs
ed for men and others 'he employer will then mdidates of a. specific
ly. .
Jle, jobs that require ill be more suitable for sitions hi electronic .
are more suited to action should not be 1der discrimination."
! says, recognises that
the government has introduced var- ious initiatives, but much more has .to be done.
"The government should promote initiatives to the private sector in the form oftaxincentives and awareness pmgrammes.
· "In addition, more employers should be encouraged to implement flexible work arrangements and this can be accomplish.ed through changes in labour legislatiqn." ·
A recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank study found that while wages are predicted
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15 NEWS
R ecentfemalesbareQfemployment bymajorecon omicsectors(%)
Cambodia , laos
Malaysia Philippines Singapore Thailand Vietnam
33.7 69.2 15.4 37.9 0 44.1
45
24.6 9.9 32.8 19.2 . 22.2 .• 22.6 25.1
41.6
I. 20.9.
5];,8
·~ 42.9
··n~
33.3 ':
29.9
39.2 32.7
73.5 8.3 20.1
0
39.3 48.8
16.4 25.9 6.7 19.8
10 14 17.7
17
44.4 41.4 19.9 71.9
69.9 86 43.1 34.2
lllfDIIIPIIIIQUUPUIIQIIUtiiiJIIIIIIQfiUtlllfiJIIIPitiUifllllffiiUifiiNIIIIUtlltttlllflUIUIIIItniiiJftiiUffllffJJIUJflllffllllfllllmlllllllllftlllfHIIUflfiiQIIIIIIIIHQIIIlUIIIIIUIUftiUifflllfllllffUIIUIIIHUQHIIIftfiiiNIIIIIUIIHfllllll.lltlll
Average monthly wages by sex in 2012
Cambodia
jill
Ll Male· laos female
Malaysia . . .
Philippines
~ngapore ~ --llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll~llllllllllllllll
.Thailand • • "
Vietnam
Brunei US$.
Darussalam 4000 ·
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
L. ... .... ... ... ... ... .... ; . . ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
s~!?.1:.'.~~~.~~ .. ~!l".~.~~.~ .... =~to increase for both male and female Shamsuddin is in full agreement, skilled and unskilled workers, the , stressing that encouraging more averageincreaseishighestforskilled· women to enter the job market will . male workers and lowest for · un- help drive economic growth and also skilled fe11.1ale workers. reduce Malaysia's dependence on The report also indicates that low-skilled and un~killed foreign
while the number of women employ- workers. ·
ees may rise, the increase will not "To encourage women to work,
nece~sarily change other employ- there are variou~ provisions in the ment outcomes, ·such as wages, law that need to be amended to fulfll types of jobs and the sectors where the .needs of women that safeguard women are currently employed. and promote work:-life balance, and Societiesandgovernments;itsays, this includes the provision of rna- have to realise that investing in in- ternityleave.
creasing women's share in the re- Section 37 of the Employment Act gional and national trade and na- 1955 entitles a woman to no fewer tional income is a win-win strategy than 60 consecutive days.
for society, economy, private busi- The present scenario in the private nesses and individuals. ~ector is that the employer pays full
wages of women employees throughout the duration of their maternity leave for up to five chil- dren.
"Based on our study, the cost to
· employers for providing 60 days of maternity leave is about RM1.92 bil·
lion per annum, or RM32 million a
day. ·
"However, in most other coun- tries, including Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, the cost of ma- ternity leave is partly or wholly paid by the government.
"Should maternity leave be in-
cr~ased to 90 days, the additional cost to employers is estimated to in- crease to between RM768 million and RM960 million."
!ildcare should be in communities, not workplace'
nternational Monetary and Wodd Bank study ted the importance of care systems.
found that an effective stem is necessary for to fully benefit from
ential.
l':childcare and high re-
·:of unpaid domestic 'nstrain women's par-
fh40-~,.:;..-A;..-' ·~
men) to do unpaid care work.
May, 28, has been sending her child to a childcare centre in her office for two years, and is very hap- PY with the arrangement.
"I work in a university librru;y and we have a childcare centre that's very structured and reliable. In fact, there is a long waiting list to get your child in. I am fortunate to not
h~ye~waif.WQ.loD&.TosaytbatJ~~
times, and take a break to feed her."
May says many of her friends end up quitting their jobs because they can't find a babysitter close by. She does not have to make that choice between career and family.
Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Datu:k Shamsuddin Bardan, however, is of the opinion that child~e ~.x.Ytr~
e:tt ft~6 ~~ ... : ... :.<C-1!•'-.. _... •
com,uunity-based as setting up childcare centres at the workplace is impractical.
"The workplace is not a suitable environment for children to grow.
Children need to have a good and healthy environment for their men- tal and physical development."
He says employers are reluctant tu S.~ UP chih!ca.re
cen..,._ ,.., ..._ .. ..,
"The setting up of community childcare and daycare centres for the elderly nationwide can also pro- vide unemployed graduates with the opportunity to run them.
"These centres will create jobs for women as caregivers. With proper training and certified qualifica- tions, a career~ a,c<M:egjye.t ~.be
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