Flexible Working Hours At Lower Pay For Female Civil Servants Seen As Step Backwards
The proposed idea is to let working mothers in public services work lesser hours at a lower pay so they can better care for their children.
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Women working in public services may be able to work flexible or shorter hours to better care for their families.
According to Free Malaysia Today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the shorter working hours may also mean lower pay rates.
Anwar gave the example of a woman working for four hours instead of working from 8am to 5pm. The pay rate for the woman might be lower.
This proposal will be considered part of a study being carried out into a new civil service salary scheme.
Speaking at the International Women’s Day Celebration 2024 held on 8 March, Anwar said he would discuss the matter with the chief secretary to the government and the director-general of public services.
Anwar added that Malaysia would be the first country in the world to offer such flexibility to female civil servants if the idea is put in place.
He explained that a change from conventional thinking is needed because many women feel pressured to leave their careers to care for their families.
Netizens chime in: “Not a wholly great idea”
Many netizens could see the rationale but felt the proposed idea was outdated. They believed lowering women’s wages would further increase the gender pay gap.
With the rising cost of living, a double-income household is more crucial than ever and sometimes it’s still not enough. Lowering the wages of the women could likely increase the household financial burden.
A solution that some netizens agree on is to instate flexible working hours and work-from-home arrangements for all employees, especially working parents.
As a netizen said, targeting these policies at only women reinforces the idea that it’s the woman’s job to care for the children and family (aka performing more unpaid labour at home) instead of a partnership. These policies also single out single parents, especially single fathers.
Some employers are already discriminatory towards hiring women in case the women plan to start a family. With this proposed policy as an added barrier, employers may find hiring women increasingly unappealing.
A flexible working arrangement enables parents to continue doing their work while caring for their kids. Single workers may not need to work longer hours often to cover for their married colleagues either.
On another note, netizens pointed out that productivity in the public sector is already bad and lessening the work hours will make the services worse.
Normalise flexible working hours and WFH policies for all employees – especially working parents.
— Min (@leeminhui_) March 10, 2024
Targeting these policies only at women reinforces the idea that it is their job to take care of the kids, and not the men’s. https://t.co/QTha173OmO
Working lesser hours is a myth. The world is constantly connected. No one works fewer hours anymore. The best employers can do is allow a degree of flexibility. Women and men alike should be allowed some latitude to work remotely every now and then so that they can….
— Roshan (@r05h4n) March 10, 2024
Single father tak wujud? Lelaki tak ada yang jaga anak sorang2?
— roti Gardenia cicah milo panas (@Beberuruang) March 10, 2024
Gila diskriminasi.
Harga barang dah naik, hatga hampir segala2 benda dah naik, wanita kerja 4 jam itu ok, tapi ganjaran dah kurang macam mana dia nak bayar kos harian hidup, ahli2 politik hampir kesemua dah gila agaknya, reformasi taik lembu nampaknya nya
— Manivannan Letchumanan (@maniletchumanan) March 9, 2024
"Woman can work shorter hours for less pay (on top of existing wages gap), get less opportunities, so that they can go home earlier to do wife duties" is one hell of a policy proposal.
— Nash (@ViggyStrdust) March 9, 2024
I was not prepared for this. No idea how to think about it https://t.co/aeemQDZHj1
“We will decrease the number of paid working hours for women so they can go home and continue to do unpaid work.”
— aly (@cookiemonstaly) March 9, 2024
Do y’all clowns hear yourselves https://t.co/nxXIUrWqkR
I’ve been doing MY gender policy work for a while, and not ONCE have I seen this suggested. Were you not listening to what activists were actually advocating for. An acknowledgement of UNEQUAL UNPAID CARE WORK and fostering healthier, more equitable gender dynamics. WTF IS THIS!! https://t.co/L3rFZfouHd
— Jannah Jailani (@jannahjailani) March 10, 2024
instead of paying them more or reduce the working hours for everyone??? sebab parenting is for both suami and isteri. Nanti bos lagi fikir “kenapa nak hire perempuan” why are we going backwards???????
— WF (@dumborx) March 9, 2024
Civil servants kerja 8 jam pun macam 4 jam…ni kerja 4 jam, kalau productivity baik ok.
— Bigsnorlax (@Bigsnorlax1985) March 9, 2024
Tapi jangan saja utk perempuan yg ada family.
Lepas fikir workload & cost baru bincang, jgn pakai sembang.
Nanti cost naik, productivity takde, lg byk kaunter tutup. Mampus la..
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