1. Legally, under the Employment Act 1955, employees are entitled to paid holidays on:
(a) 11 of the gazetted public holidays[1]; and
(b) Any special days appointed as public holidays.[2]
2. Out of the 11 gazetted public holidays:
(a) 5 are mandatory; and
(b) 6 are to be decided by employers.[3]
3. The 5 mandatory gazetted public holidays are:
(a) National Day / Merdeka;
(b) Birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong;
(c) Birthday of the Ruler/Yang di-Pertua Negeri or the Federal Territory Day;[4]
(d) Workers’ Day / Labour Day; and
(e) Malaysia Day.
4. For the remaining 6 gazetted public holidays, employers can choose from:
(a) The remaining Federal public holidays; and/or
(b) State public holidays.
5. The remaining Federal public holidays[5] are as follows:
(a) Birthday of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w);
(b) Chinese New Year;
(c) Wesak Day;
(d) Hari Raya Puasa;
(e) Hari Raya Haji;
(f) Deepavali;
(g) Christmas Day; and
(h) Awal Muharam.
6. The State public holidays would depend on each state.[6]
For Selangor, its State public holidays in 2023[7] are:
(a) New Year’s Day;
(b) Thaipusam; and
(c) Nuzul Al-Quran.
Note: The birthday of the Sultan of Selangor is also a State public holiday in Selangor but it is excluded from this paragraph for the purposes of this article as the birthday of the Sultan of Selangor is a mandatory public holiday [see paragraph 3(c) above]
The full list of Federal and State public holidays (for each state) for 2023 can be found on the Cabinet’s website.[8]
7. Where special days are appointed as public holidays, employees are entitled to a paid holiday.
An example of a special day appointed as a public holiday was 28th November 2022. The Prime Minister declared 28th November 2022 as a public holiday[9] “in conjunction with the formation of a unity government and his appointment as the country’s 10th prime minister.”[10]
8. Despite employees’ entitlement to paid holidays, employers can require employees to work on their paid holidays.[11]
9. If employees are required to work their normal hours of work on their paid holidays, employees would be entitled to:
(a) their holiday pay;[12] and
(b) 2 days’ wages at the ordinary rate of pay (for employees employed on a monthly, weekly, daily, hourly, or other similar rate of pay).[13]
10. If employees are required to work overtime on their paid holidays, employees employed on a monthly, weekly, daily, hourly, or other similar rate of pay would be entitled to be paid at a rate not less than three times the employee’s hourly rate of pay.[14]
Disclaimer: The contents of this article are intended for information dissemination and academic discussion only, and should not be construed as legal advice on a specific set of facts or circumstances. Should you require legal assistance, you may contact us via email (liti@pelim.my) or via WhatsApp/telephone call (+6011-5672 7813).
[1] Section 60D(1)(a) of the Employment Act 1955
[2] Section 60D(1)(b) of the Employment Act 1955 read together with Section 8 of the Holidays Act 1951
[3] Section 60D(1A) of the Employment Act 1955
[4] This would depend on which state the employee “wholly or mainly works under” [Section 60D(1)(a)(iii) of the Employment Act 1955]
[5] See the First Schedule to the Holidays Act 1951
[6] States are empowered pursuant to Section 9(1) of the Holidays Act 1951 to appoint State public holidays
[7] https://www.selangor.gov.my/kualalangat/resources/KHIDMAT%20PENGURUSAN/HARI_KELEPASAN_AM_NEGERI_SELANGOR_TAHUN_2023.pdf.pdf
[8] https://www.kabinet.gov.my/bkpp/pdf/hari_kelepasan_am/hka_2023.pdf
[9] https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/11/24/nov-28-is-a-public-holiday-says-anwar
[10] https://www.malaysianow.com/news/2022/11/25/anwar-announces-public-holiday-on-nov-28
[11] Section 60D(3) of the Employment Act 1955
[12] This is the pay the employee is entitled to by virtue of the holiday being a paid holiday [see Section 60D(2A) of the Employment Act 1955]
[13] Section 60D(3)(a)(i) of the Employment Act 1955
[14] Section 60D(3)(aa) of the Employment Act 1955