Thinking about starting or expanding your family? Understanding your maternity leave rights in Malaysia is essential for expecting mothers, and knowing the paternity leave policies is just as important for fathers.
Understanding the details of parental leave policies is important to employees thinking of adding a new member to their family mix.
Parental leave policies and frameworks help foster diversity, equity, and inclusion within companies to contribute to gender equality and promote shared caregiving responsibilities. Maternity and paternity leave can also help make the workplace more inclusive as companies ensure that all employees feel supported.
This article provides you with the latest information (as of 2 April 2025) regarding your rights and entitlements to maternity, paternity, and parental leave (if any), offering practical guidance on how you can leverage these benefits while still securing your career progression.
maternity and paternity policies in malaysia
Following the amendment of the Employment Act 1955 which came into effect on 1 January 2023, maternity leave has been extended from 60 days to 98 days. In the same amendment, married male employees also get 7 days of paid paternity leave for each childbirth.
To be eligible for maternity leave in Malaysia, a female employee must have been:
- Employed by the employer for at least 90 days during the 9 months immediately preceding her confinement; and
- Employed by the same employer at any time during the 4 months immediately before her confinement.
To be eligible for paternity leave in Malaysia, the male employee must:
- Be legally married to the mother of the child; and
- Have been employed by the same employer for at least 12 months immediately preceding the start of the paternity leave; and
- Notify the employer about the pregnancy of his spouse at least 30 days from the expected confinement or as soon as possible after the birth.
For men, the entitlements are limited to a maximum of 5 confinements.
There is no statutory parental leave where parents can share their maternity or paternity leave in Malaysia, no matter who has the bigger responsibility of child-caring at home.
However, some companies in Malaysia offer extended periods of unpaid leave in addition to the paid paternity or maternity leave as part of their internal policies. You should always check with your manager and Human Resources team on the types of provisions allowed.
While the government sets the minimum amount of leave, some companies might offer even better maternity and paternity leave. Always check your company's policies to get the full picture.
taking maternity leave and paternity leave can help promote gender equality
Most countries have already mandated maternity leave, and are also slowly expanding paternity leave policies or introducing shared parental leave to promote childbirth and counter low birth rates amid an ageing population.
However, many people still choose not to have babies because of the financial costs of raising a child, pressures of being a good parent, or because they simply do not think that the world is safe for a child.
One other key reason is the challenges in managing work and family commitments.
There is an assumption that taking maternity and paternity leave in full will harm your career, as you might miss out on promotions or opportunities to work on exciting projects that could boost your career. Some parents may also want to avoid discrimination as their colleagues work overtime because of the additional workload.
However, all these beliefs are outdated and societal norms have changed.
Bringing a new child to the world, while not always a choice that everyone can understand, is always a choice that everyone respects. More people are starting to understand the challenges of childbirth as well. From waking up multiple times in the night to numerous visits to the pediatricians, working parents have busier schedules than before. Even the most organised person can be flustered as newborns can be extremely unpredictable.
If you are thinking about creating life and expanding your family, know that maternity leave and paternity leave are policies that are created to not just promote childbirth, but also protect you as you adjust to a new routine in life.
For employees who are expecting or planning to welcome a new family member, proactive planning is key to effectively using your leave entitlements. Here are some steps you can take to leverage your maternity and paternity leave, as well as promote better gender equality at your workplace.
1. understand your legal rights
As an expecting parent, it’s important to understand the following:
- Specific eligibility requirements for maternity and paternity leave, including the length of continuous service
- Timeframe within which you need to inform your employer about your pregnancy and intention to take leave
- Any provisions for taking leave before the expected birth date if allowed
Once you know your rights, you are prepared to speak with your boss and HR!
During your discussion, you should also find out the specific procedures for applying for leave and ensure you have all the necessary documents prepared.
2. discuss and align with your boss on your work performance and measurement
Many expecting mothers fear that they may lose their jobs or opportunities at work to progress when they are going to be away for a long period of time.
However, expecting mothers do not need to worry about job security at all. Under Section 41A(1) of the Employment Act 1955, employers are prohibited from serving a notice of termination to female employees who are pregnant or on maternity leave. Exceptions include extreme cases like misconduct, breach of contract or business closure. This law protects your rights as an expecting mother in Malaysia.
Now that you are safe, you should focus on how your work performance will be measured for the year when you are away for three months.
Expecting working mothers are advised to request a performance review approximately 3 to 6 months before your due date. This will create a documented assessment of your performance before you go on leave.
When assessing your performance, talk to your boss to revise and realign your KPIs. It helps to ensure that your contributions are recognised and documented so that you do not miss out on promotions or salary increases just because you are on leave. You can also revise your goals to account for your leave to be more realistic, with specific targets set for what you need to complete before your leave and what you need to start working on when you return to work.
Being proactive in discussing your career future with the team demonstrates your commitment to your job, which helps give assurance to your boss.
3. do a proper handover
Before you start your maternity leave, work with your manager to create a plan for how your work will be distributed to the team. Identify tasks that can be delegated and agree on who has the capabilities and time to take on the additional tasks.
If you feel that your team is already overloaded with work or if your job is too complex to be delegated to colleagues who are not skilled to perform the tasks, you should let your manager know in advance to hire a contractor to fill the role. This is typically the case for employees who are in highly-technical roles and not able to distribute the workload even if they want to.
With a proper handover and the right resources in place, it shows that you have intentions to ensure that productivity is not impacted when you are away.
As much as you are planning for a new family member, your employers and colleagues are also trying to plan their time. By allowing them time to plan together with you, discrimination against working parents will improve over time and it will encourage more parents to take their parental leave in full.
4. maintain your relationships with your colleagues while you’re on parental leave
Even though you are busy with your newborn, you should still do your best to maintain regular contact with your colleagues. Maintaining relationships with colleagues while on parental leave can be challenging, but doable with some thoughtful effort.
Arrange for a meet up at your convenience for a coffee or meal to learn about the new developments at work. You should also stay active in group chats for non-work communications as much as you can to maintain your presence and relationships with your colleagues.
If you’re comfortable, you can share updates about your new life as a parent such as pictures of your newborn or a funny mishap that happened at home. Sharing your experiences can help your colleagues understand your new situation better and express empathy in an appropriate way.
When you keep in contact with your colleagues, it will make returning back to work after parental leave much easier too.
best practices and companies supporting maternity and paternity leave policies in malaysia
There are some companies in Malaysia that support working parents beyond statutory minimum requirements, like providing the same number of leave for both parents or single parents.
In Malaysia, Volvo Car introduced a 24-week paid parental leave for employees with at least a year of service for both parents and adoptive parents. Nestlé Malaysia offers up to 180 days of paid and unpaid maternity leave. PwC Malaysia provides 90 days of flexible maternity leave and 30 days of flexible paternity leave.
These examples show that more and more companies in Malaysia understand how important good parental leave policies are. Companies that offer extended maternity and paternity leave also hints at being a more inclusive organisation that ensures the wellbeing of their employees.
let randstad help you look for a job with greater flexibility
With your new responsibilities as a parent, we understand that your priorities may change. You may prefer to have more work flexibility so that you can balance the responsibilities of being an employee and a parent.
If you are looking for a new role as a parent, we understand your needs. Our specialised consultants take the time to understand how your career priorities have changed and what type of working environment you can thrive in as a parent.
If you’re looking for a job with greater flexibility and supports your family planning, you can apply for a new job or create a Randstad job seeker account to connect with our consultants.