KUALA LUMPUR: The government should undertake a comprehensive study on the labour market to review the current structure of employee benefits, amid rising cost of living and effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In making the call, Uni Malaysia Labour Centre general council member J Solomon said trade unions should represent the workers in the same way even after the pandemic.
"Their main role is to protect and safeguard members' interests. That role should continue to be a priority," he said during a Money Matters episode on "The post-Covid-19 recovery: Transforming the workforce for a new world" aired on TV3 last Saturday.
Solomon said the study would also be necessary to drive Malaysia's labour output as the productivity index had fallen to 5.4 per cent last year.
It was the first-ever contraction recorded since the 2009 global financial crisis as the pandemic had severely impacted economic activities locally and globally, according to Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC).
MPC said the country's labour productivity was likely to rebound in 2021, following the steep decline last year.
Solomon said the country's political stability and current pandemic situation could play a role to enhance productivity.
"We can't deny there was positive productivity growth since 2006 except for 2009 and 2013 and of course 2020. We can't blame the workers for not being productive during these periods," he said.
Solomon urged all trade union leaders to be on their toes, keeping abreast of the latest development and new policy or guidelines disseminated by the International Labour Organisation.
He said development in new policy could be applied in Malaysia while learning from the guidelines to overcome the tough period.
"This is the golden opportunity for the workers and their representatives as this is a period where the employers are sincerely concerned about their employee's health and safety.
"Union leaders have also extended their support and cooperation with the employers to ensure all of us will come out safely from the pandemic," he added.
He said only about one million of the total 15 million Malaysians workforce were represented by trade unions.
Solomon said employers must look at their employees as "human being" before investing in human capital.
"We see many employers not keen in retaining their employees for a longer time. Instead, training has become more like a 'cosmetic' show as many employers are reluctant to train their employees for their skills that they are good at or skills that need to be enhanced," he said.
He said some employers were reluctant to send employees for training due to a shortage of manpower and employees must be paid at least a minimum wage during their training period.
"If employees were given the workers and human's rights, everything will fall in place as the trade union will be in a position to negotiate and provide the necessary training and work together with employers as the union would understand employees better than employers," he said.
Solomon urged employers to invest in improving their employees' skills through various upskilling/reskilling programmes and training.
Solomon said it was vital for the government to be neutral towards the workforce and business community, especially during this tough period.
"The government has been playing the role of a 'corporate' and they were not neutral. They must relook at every population whether it is workforce or the business community, ensuring every segment of the society comes out of the pandemic," he said.
He said many employees would have lost their jobs if too much emphasis was given to corporate survival.
"We are not convinced about employment creation. We have seen many jobs being taken by foreign labours," he said.
Solomon said industrial relations act should be scrutinised to safeguard employees' interest with more representatives from trade unions.
He highlighted that more employees had imbalance in work-life as some were focused on carrying out their work even it exceeded their office hour or over-lapsed their personal life.
"Generally, Malaysians have become workaholic. By performing work in longer hours would give them an opportunity for promotion," he said.
However, this leads to a bigger problem of "mental stress", even before the pandemic.
"Employers must also emphasise on their employees' health condition during the pandemic which has yet to show any sign of recovery," he said.
He said the government should also closely monitor the pandemic impact on employers and employees to avoid businesses shutting down and laying off workers.
Sunway University Business School economics Professor Dr Yeah Kim Leng said equipping the workforce with the right skills, knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit should be made a priority to remain competitive in line with the rapidly evolving advancement of global economies.
"Incentivising industries and businesses to move up the value chain; and engage in continuous technological upgrading, accelerating productivity and efficiency at all levels of society and the government would allow Malaysia to weather the challenges brought upon by the crisis," he told the New Straits Times.