Malaysia : Leave of 100,000 medical employees frozen

[Gert van der Hoek]

Leave of 100,000 medical employees frozen

PUTRAJAYA, June 25 ? The Health Ministry has frozen the leave of 100,000 medical officers and staff with immediate effect in view of the influenza A (H1N1) outbreak, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

The directive involves all medical officers in hospitals throughout the country, medical staff and laboratory personnel.

"The move is to ensure all the workforce can be utilised to combat the influenza A (H1N1) outbreak effectively," he told reporters today.

Liow hoped employers would allow their staff who returned from overseas, especially countries like Australia, the Philippines and United States, to go on unrecorded leave so that they can be "self quarantined".

"The proposal will be discussed in the Cabinet as it is important for employers to give unrecorded leave to ensure the safety of the public and the country," he said.

Liow said since the outbreak of the disease was becoming serious, those quarantined must follow the procedures and directives strictly.

Those who do not adhere to the directives set for the quarantine can be charged under the Disease Control Act 1998 which carries a RM10,000 fine or two years' jail or both, he said.

He urged ?contact cases? to come forward and seek treatment voluntarily instead of waiting and advised the public to discard any information circulated via SMS with regard to H1N1 because only the Health Ministry issues official statements on the disease.

"We (Health Ministry) will not hide any statistics or information and will continue to send out statements. So I advise the public to refrain from listening to rumours.

"If there is a case detected at 8pm, the ministry will immediately release a statement," he said.

People who receive SMS messages with regard to H1N1 should forward such messages to the ministry so that those responsible can be identified, he said.

Liow said he had also asked the Education Ministry to notify all schools in the Klang Valley to avoid using air-conditioning in their schools and instead open their doors and windows to allow fresh air to circulate. ? Bernama

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/30531-leave-of-100000-medical-employees-frozen

 

[kiwibird]

Re: Malaysia : Leave of 100,000 medical employees frozen

Full Salary For Workers On Medical Leave


KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 (Bernama) -- Workers suspected to be infected with the Influenza A(H1N1) virus are entitled for full daily wages if they are granted medical leaves by doctors, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam.

He said the workers should be paid for all the days they had been on medical leaves.

"Employers must recognise their medical leaves and treat the infection just like other illness," he told reporters after appearing on Radio Television Malaysia's dialogue program here last night.

He said workers infected with the virus must be quarantined for at least a week and during the period, employers must allow them to go on medical leaves, provided the leaves were certified by doctors.

The minister was commenting on reports that some employers only allowed unpaid leaves for their workers suspected of being infected with the virus although they had medical certificates from hospitals or clinics.

Dr Subramaniam said he would discuss with the Social Security Organisation (Socso) to allow workers infected with the disease while on duty to seek assistance from the organisation.

He also requested employers to take the necessary precautions to prevent infection among workers.

The workers themselves should keep tab on the latest information about the disease, he added.

Earlier when answering a question at the program, Dr Subramaniam said his ministry wanted to train local maids through its existing training institutes but there were no takers.

"There was no response despite the measures taken by the ministry. They (the locals) are not interested," he said, adding that the ministry wanted to create a pool of professional maids and grade them accordingly.

Despite the poor response, he said, the ministry would not abandoned the idea and would try out other ways to woo locals to become maids.

He also welcomed feedback from the public on the ministry's decision to implement an off day per week for domestic and foreign maids.

"We will only implement the ruling after weighing all views, especially from the employers," he said, adding that employers should also realise that the ruling was necessary to maintain Malaysia's image as a democratic and stable country which respected individual and workers' rights.

-- BERNAMA
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/news_lite.php?id=420610

 

[kiwibird]

Re: Malaysia : Leave of 100,000 medical employees frozen

Dutchy - with regard to your post above

People who receive SMS messages with regard to H1N1 should forward such messages to the ministry so that those responsible can be identified, he said.

Does this mean people are being encouraged to report on each other? Heaven help anyone with hayfever if it does.