MEDICAL ATTENTION, SICK LEAVE AND HOSPITALIZATION LEAVE
1. What is the entitlement of an employee to sick leave?
These represent the minimum set by the law where no hospitalization is required -
i) If the employee has served less than 2 years, he is entitled to 14 days in each year of service.
ii) If the employee has served 2 years or more but less than 5 years, he is entitled to 18 days in each of these years
iii) If the employee has served 5 years or more, then he is entitled to 22 days in each of these years
2. How about hospitalization leave?
If the employee is hospitalized, then the employee is entitled to 60 days of sick leave, which is inclusive of the 14, 18 or 22 days mentioned in #1 above.
Here is an example of how it works -
This is Ah Chong's 2nd year of service with ABC Sdn Bhd. In January, he was down with flu and was given 2 days sick leave. In August, he met an accident and ended up with whopper injuries which required hospitalization. Under the law, he is entitled to 14 days sick leave or up to 60 days in the case of hospitalization. In this case, since he has taken 2 days sick leave in January, he is stilled entitled to 58 days of hospitalization leave.
3. Can the employer set a qualifying period before an employee becomes entitled to sick leave or hospitalization leave?
NO. As soon as an employee joins the company, he becomes entitled to the Sick Leave or Hospitalization Leave benefits - that is as long as he can get the company doctor to certify that he is sick and require the leave to recuperate.
4.Can the sick leave or hospitalization leave be pro-rated for the year if an employee joins the company at some point in the middle of the year?
NO! Unlike annual leave, sick leave provisions are stipulated as being given in accordance to Calendar Years - i.e. it is always given from January till December. At any time an employee joins the organization, he becomes entitled to the full entitlement of sick leave or hospitalization leave for that year, provided he is certified by a doctor to need it. So this has some interesting implications.
Say - If an employee happens to join the company on December 1, 1996 and after 2 weeks he shares the same experience of Ah Chong in the above example with the same whopper injuries.... His hospitalization entitlement would of course be limited to the remaining 2 weeks of December, 1996 - but 1997 is a new year and he therefore can continue "enjoying" hospitalization leave for another 60 days in respect of the new year.
5. Can any unconsumed sick leave or hospitalization leave be carried forward to the next year?
NO. The employer cannot pro-rate the leave, and neither can the employee expect that any balance of leave unconsumed to be carried forward. For that matter, employer are also generally advised against compensating employees (paying cash) in lieu unconsumed leave. Why so? Because there is no reason for any employee to want to be sick, and if he is sick enough to be resting, you don't want him around waiting for an accident to happen because of it. Besides, he is unlikely to be productive when he is sick - right?
6. Must employees be given free medical treatment?
Medical attention, yes. Medical treatment, no. All employees who are covered by the Act are to be given free medical attention only. The actual words used in the Act are "examination at the expense of the employer". In its strictest sense, it would actually mean that the employer is obliged to pay only for the doctor's expertise for examing, diagnosing and prescribing medication - and not for the cost of the medication itself. This is why it is possible for employers not to pay for surgical cost and hospitalization cost.
However, traditional practice in Malaysia always had the clinic doctor not only examining the patient and prescribing medication, but also dispensing the medicines too. And all that goes into one single bill with no itemization. So employers also had the tradition of paying without questions asked.
But if an employer is stingy and wants to go against tradition, he can still insist to his panel of doctors to itemize the cost so that he can identify and pay only for the cost of examination, while the employee foots the bill for the medicine. However, there will be interesting consequences - call me if you want to know what can happen.
7. So "Free Medical" does not include hospitalization costs?
That's right. The employer has the right not to bear the cost for surgery and hospitalization. But do note that hospitalization bills are itemized, and where you find an item which represents the cost of doctor's visit (or examination) the employer has to pay for this.
In line with the explanation given above, the employer does not have to pay for cost of bed space, food, surgery, anesthetics, etc.
Nevertheless, in practice, the vast majority of employers that I have come across do provide free hospitalization and surgical benefits.
8. Is the employer obliged to accept all sick certificates given by any doctor?
There are a few points to note here :-
i) "Doctor" refers to those professionals who are registered with the MMA or medical officers, meaning duly qualified doctors in government clinics and hospitals. ( Sinseh, dukuns and bomohs are naturally excluded)
ii) It also includes duly qualified and registered dental surgeons
iii) If the company has an appointed panel of doctors, it generally means that the employee is only entitled to free medical examination from these appointed doctors only.
iv) The employee is not be entitled to free medical examination or sick leave from any other doctor, including government clinics unless there was such urgency for treatment at that time and the company appointed doctors are not available due to distance or time.
v) But in situations where the company do not have an appointed panel of doctors, then the employer must accept any bill or sick certificate which is issued by any qualified doctor
vi) In the case of hospitalization leave, then there is no question that the company is bound to accept the sick certificate issued, while the cost is subject to internal policies.
9. In Malaysia, there are some situations where an illness /condition is better treated by traditional healers, and the management knows about it. Shouldn't there be exceptions in such situations?
Yeah sure. There remain certain beliefs that Traditional Healers are still better at healing certain conditions - such as broken bones, or those mysterious recurring and chronic aches and pains that modern medicine often do not seem to have an effect on. But hey, we are talking of the law here. And the law has very clearly stated its definition of who is qualified to certify the sick leave. So sick certificates from bomohs and sinsehs are not acceptable.
But then, if the employer wants to accept it, he is not committing any offense, mind you. He can still make the exceptions as if it is sick leave, and I use the words "as if".
10. If employee becomes sick during his rest day, can he get a replacement for the rest day?
An Employee on sick leave is not entitled to the weekly rest day because he is already being paid for not working.
11. Are there anymore situations where an employee is not entitled to paid sick leave?
Yes. There are, such as:
i) when the employee is on maternity leave and receiving maternity allowance.
ii) when the employee is receiving compensation for disablement benefit under Workman's compensation, or
iii) when the employee is receiving periodical payments from SOCSO for temporary disablement
This is where I normally like to draw the attention of HR executives to the fact that the non-entitlement for paid sick leave in respect of item (i) here is when the employee is receiving maternity allowance - not just when the employee is on maternity leave! Savvy?
12. Is there any time limit by which an employee must notify his employer that he is on paid sick leave?
When an employee goes on sick leave, he is required to inform his employer within 48 hours of the commencing the leave. If he fails to do so within the required time period, he is "deemed to absent himself from work without the permission of his employer and without reasonable excuse".
13. Are part time workers entitled to sick leave and benefits?
I would rather put it back to you this way - where in the EA 1955 does it say that Part-time workers are not entitled to sick leave, or for that matter any of the other benefits named under the Act?
As the law is written now, it would look like the employer is committing an offence by not providing part-time workers with these benefits.( In fact, a famous fast food chain has already been charged in court for overtime offense on part-time workers.)
But then with all the funny and irregular work schedule arrangements for them, it has been pretty difficult for anybody to come up with a formula for allocating the benefits in such a way it does not upset the regular employees.
But keep your fingers crossed. The Parliament is coming up with amendments to clarify this situation soon - hopefully. And I will keep you posted
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