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Umno Youth will submit a petition to the government against the law requiring civil servants working shift work to work three hours of overtime per week.
Umno Youth leader Dr Akmal Saleh has described the Public Service Pay System (SSPA) guidelines, which will affect nurses and security personnel, as unfair to civil servants. He said this would add further pressure on these government workers, who work primarily in frontline sectors such as health and safety, which are physically and mentally taxing.
“The directive not only ignores the sacrifices they make day and night, but also increases the pressure on those who are already at risk of burnout. “We will submit a letter of complaint to the relevant authorities to express our position on the matter,” the Melaka chief minister said in a statement.
Akmal urged the government to maintain the current 42-hour workweek and provide workers with a day off or additional leave. The SSPA guidelines will require nurses and other essential community workers to work shifts of 45 hours per week, up from the current 42 hours, starting in December.
The hospital will consider changing the current nursing schedule to 7am-3pm, 3am-10pm, and 10am-7am the next day. Currently, the working hours are 7am to 2pm, 2pm to 9pm and 7am to 10pm.
Senator RA Lingeshwaran and Malaysian Nurses Association chief Saaidah Athman said it was unfair to have nurses work part-time, which includes night shifts, and office workers only work on weekdays. Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad described the additional working hours as “reasonable.”
He also said the welfare of nurses affected by the law would be better served because they would benefit from more flexible hours.
