The HR Guide to Malaysian Public Holidays

We in Malaysia are ‘blessed’ with a bounty of public holidays. Depending on the state, organizations can observe anywhere from 21 to 25 days of public holiday per year.

And that’s not counting the holidays that are declared by the federal and state governments, such as the recent holidays for the 2023 state elections. Furthermore, it’s not uncommon for such holidays to be announced at short notice. Such holidays are known as ‘cuti peristiwa’ or ‘occasional holidays’.

As the public holidays in Malaysia can get confusing, we present to you this guide on when and how Malaysian public holidays work.

The Law on Malaysian Public Holidays

Two pieces of legislation affect which public holidays employees may take:

• Employment Act 1955.
• Holidays Act 1951.

Holidays in the Employment Act

Section 60D of the Employment Act 1955 defines which holidays employees are entitled to.

• (1) Every employee shall be entitled to a paid holiday at his ordinary rate of pay on the following days in any one calendar year:
  • (a) on eleven of the gazetted public holidays, five of which shall be—
    • (i) the National Day;
    • (ii) the Birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong;
    • (iii) the Birthday of the Ruler or the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, as the case may be, of the State in which the employee wholly or mainly works under his contract of service, or the Federal Territory Day, if the employee wholly or mainly works in the Federal Territory;
    • (iv) the Workers’ Day; and
    • (v) Malaysia Day; and
  • (b) on any day appointed as a public holiday for that particular year under section 8 of the Holidays Act 1951 [Act 369].

Holidays in the Holidays Act

Sections 8 and 9 of the Holidays Act 1951 define how cuti peristiwa or occasional holidays are declared.

• Section 8:
  • The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette or in such other manner as he thinks fit, appoint, in respect of Peninsular Malaysia, or the Federal Territory or, after consultation with the State Authority, in respect of a State, a day to be observed as a public holiday or a bank holiday in addition to, or in substitution for, any of the days mentioned in the Schedules and thereupon this Act shall, in Peninsular Malaysia, or in the Federal Territory, or in the State in respect of which a day is appointed to be observed as a holiday as aforesaid, be applicable to such day in the same manner as if the said day had been mentioned in the First Schedule or the Second Schedule, as the case may be.

• Section 9:
  • (1) The State Authority may, by notification in the Gazette or in such other manner as it thinks fit, appoint a day to be observed as a State public holiday in any such State, and such day shall, except as hereinafter provided, be observed in such State as a public holiday.
  • (2) The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, or in such other manner as he thinks fit, appoint a day to be observed as a Federal Territory public holiday in the Federal Territory, and such day shall, except as hereinafter provided, be observed in the Federal Territory as a public holiday.

Which Public Holidays Should the Organization Observe?

This is governed by Section 60D of the Employment Act 1955 as shown above.

As a minimum, companies should observe 11 days of public holidays. The five compulsory holidays include:

• National Day (31 August)
• Birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (first Monday of June)
• Birthday of the Ruler or the Yang di-Pertua Negeri or the Federal Territory Day (varies by state, 1 February for Federal Territory Day)
• Workers’ Day (1 May)
• Malaysia Day (16 September)

*Dates are as of 2023.

In addition, the company needs to observe six more public holidays chosen by the company. These can be any combination of national and state holidays as defined by the Government.

Despite this, many companies choose to observe all public holidays, as do schools and the Malaysian civil service. This way, it makes administrative matters easier.

Whether the company chooses to observe the minimum amount of public holidays or all holidays, it should be spelled out in the company policy, employee handbook, or employment contract.

What About Declared Holidays?

This is what every employer dreads – holidays declared at short notice by either the Federal or State Governments.

For Malaysia-wide public holidays declared under section 8 of the Holidays Act 1951, it is compulsory for the company to observe it, regardless of their public holiday observance policy. An example of this would be the additional holiday declared by the Government in conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri earlier this year.

As for state holidays declared under section 9:

• Companies that observe the minimum 11 days of public holiday do not need to observe it.
• Companies that observe all public holidays will need to observe it.

An example of a section 9 holiday would be the holidays declared due to the 2023 state elections held in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu.

What If the Employee Can’t Get the Day Off?

In case employees can’t get the day off for compulsory holidays declared on short notice, employers have three options:

• Replace the public holiday on another day as determined by the company.
• Give the employee an additional day of annual leave.
• Pay the employee overtime pay at public holiday rates.

However, for public holidays declared for the purposes of a general or state election, employers must still give employees reasonable time off from work to cast their vote. Otherwise, the employer will be in breach of section 25 of the Election Offences Act 1954.

Manage Leave and Public Holidays with BrioHR

As we can see, public holidays can get messy. Nevertheless, with BrioHR, you can manage public holidays as well as leave and time-off in a simple, automated HR system.

Since BrioHR is cloud-based, we constantly update the system to include the latest public holidays, so you can rest assured that your team is getting their due time-off.