WORKERS' MINIMUM STANDARDS OF HOUSING AND AMENITIES ACT 1990

Employees’ Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodations and Amenities LAWS OF MALAYSIA REPRINT Act 446 EMPLOYEES’ MINIMUM STANDARDS OF HOUSING, ACCOMMODATIONS AND AMENITIES ACT 1990 As at 1 February 2021 PUBLISHED BY THE COMMISSIONER OF LAW REVISION, MALAYSIA UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE REVISION OF LAWS ACT 1968 2021 1 2 Act 446 Laws of Malaysia EMPLOYEES’ MINIMUM STANDARDS OF HOUSING, ACCOMMODATIONS AND AMENITIES ACT 1990 Date of Royal Assent … … … … 22 August 1990 Date of publication in the Gazette … … … 30 August 1990 Latest amendment made by Act A1604 which came into operation on … … … … 1 June 2020 Previous Reprints First Reprint … … … … … 2001 Second Reprint … … … … … 2006 Employees’ Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodations and Amenities LAWS OF MALAYSIA 3 Act 446 EMPLOYEES’ MINIMUM STANDARDS OF HOUSING, ACCOMMODATIONS AND AMENITIES ACT 1990 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS Part I PRELIMINARY Section 1. Short title, application and commencement 2. Extent of application of Part II 3. Interpretation 4. Exemption Part II HOUSING AND OTHER AMENITIES 5. Building to comply with requirements 6. Supply of water and electricity and maintenance of houses 7. Erection of building intended to be used for the housing of employees, as nursery or as community hall 8. Building endangering health or safety 9. Building not originally built for the housing of employees 10. Nursery 11. Allotment of land 12. Community hall, sports and other recreational facilities 13. No rent or charge to be levied for benefits under this Part 4 Laws of Malaysia Act 446 Part III HEALTH, HOSPITAL, MEDICAL TREATMENT AND SANITATION Section 14. Definition of dependant 15. Employer to construct and maintain estate hospital 16. Payment and recovery of hospital expenses by employer 17. Sick employees being admitted to a Government hospital 18. Transportation of sick employees to hospital 19. Medical treatment in estate on which a hospital is not maintained 20. Duty to report suspected cases of infectious disease 21. Duty of employer to segregate employee suffering from infectious disease 22. Power of Medical Officer of Health to order immunization against infectious disease 23. Weekly inspection of employees’ housing 24. Onus of proof Part IIIa ACCOMMODATIONS 24a. Application 24b. Interpretation 24c. Functions and powers of Director General in relation to accommodation 24d. Accommodation to be certified with Certificate for Accommodation 24e. Employer to give notice of occupation 24f. Accommodation to comply with minimum standards 24g. Deductions in respect of rent or charge for accommodation 24h. Accommodation to comply with the laws of local authorities 24i. Amenities 24j. Duties and responsibilities in respect of safety and health 24k. Maintenance Employees’ Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodations and Amenities 5 Section 24l. Appointment of person in charge of accommodation 24m. Notice to vacate accommodation 24n. Employer not obligated to provide accommodation for employees’ dependants Part IV REGULATIONS 25. Regulations Part V GENERAL PROVISIONS, APPEALS AND OFFENCES 26. Minister may vest certain officers with power and duties 26a. Power to issue directions 27. Power of Director General, etc. to inspect, investigate and to issue summons 28. Institution of prosecution 28a. Compounding of offences 28b. Protection against suits and legal proceedings 29. Director General and officers deemed to be public servants 29a. Offence by company, etc. 30. Appeals 31. Failure to comply with order under section 5, 8, 12, 15 or 19 32. Failure to comply with section 20 or 21 33. General penalty Part VI REPEAL AND SAVINGS 34. Repeal and savings in respect thereof Schedule 6 Laws of Malaysia Act 446 Employees’ Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodations and Amenities LAWS OF MALAYSIA 7 Act 446 EMPLOYEES’ MINIMUM STANDARDS OF HOUSING, ACCOMMODATIONS AND AMENITIES ACT 1990 An Act to prescribe the minimum standards of housing and nurseries for employees and their dependants, accommodations for employees not accompanied by dependants and centralized accommodations, to require employers to allot land for cultivation and grazing in a place of employment, to require employers to provide health, hospital, medical and social amenities and to provide for matters incidental thereto. [Peninsular Malaysia—1 December 1990, P.U. (B) 114/1991; *Federal Territory of Labuan—1 June 2020, P.U. (B) 248/2020] BE IT ENACTED by the Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong with the advice and consent of the Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows: Part I PRELIMINARY Short title, application and commencement 1. (1) This Act may be cited as the **Employees’ Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodations and Amenities Act 1990. (2) This Act shall apply to Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan. NOTE— *This Act is applicable to the Federal Territory of Labuan by paragraph 4(b) of the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities (Amendment) Act 2019 [Act A1604] which comes into operation on 1 June 2020. **Previously known as the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990. The short title is changed by paragraph 4(a) of Act A1604. 8 Laws of Malaysia Act 446 (3) This Act shall come into force on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette appoint, and different dates may be appointed for different provisions of this Act and for different States. Extent of application of Part II 2. (1) Part II of this Act shall not apply to any place of employment or part thereof, situated within the area of a City Council, a Municipal Council or a Federal Territory. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Minister may, by order, declare this Act or any provision thereof to be applicable to any place of employment or to any specified class of place of employment situated within the area of any Municipal Council. (3) Upon the commencement of any order made under subsection (2), any written law in force in, such area relating to the control of erection of buildings shall, in respect of the said place of employment, cease to have effect. Interpretation 3. In this Act, unless the context otherwise require— “building” means, in relation to Part II, any building used for the housing of employees and includes a nursery and a community hall; “contract of service” means any agreement, whether oral or in writing and whether express or implied, whereby one person agrees to employ another as an employee and that other person agrees to serve his employer as an employee; “dependant” means the spouse, parent (including stepfather and stepmother), grandparent, child (including stepchild), brother and sister (including half-brother and half-sister and stepbrother and stepsister) of an employee, who is dependent on such employee, and includes— (a) as respects a child, an illegitimate child or a child adopted in accordance with any written law relating to adoption; and Employees’ Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodations and Amenities 9 (b) as respects parents, the parents of an illegitimate child, and any person by whom the employee was adopted in accordance with any written law relating to adoption; “Director General” means the Director General of Labour appointed under subsection 3(1) of the Employment Act 1955 [Act 265] and includes any officer who, by virtue of an order made under section 26, is vested with all or any of the powers of the Director General; “District Engineer”, in respect of a district, means any engineer in the service of the Federal or State Government who is for the time being carrying out the duties of the Public Works Department for that district and, for the purpose of subsection 27(1), includes any officer authorized in writing in that behalf by the District Engineer; “employee” has the meaning assigned to it in subsection 2(1) of the Employment Act 1955; “employer” means— (a) any person who has entered into a contract of service to employ any other person as an employee and includes the agent, manager and factor of such first-mentioned person; or (b) where the owner or lessee (including the agent, manager and factor of such owner or lessee) of a place of employment (hereinafter referred to as “the first-mentioned person”) has entered into an agreement, whether oral or in writing and whether expressed or implied, with another person for the purpose of executing any work for or connected with any business, trade, operation or interest of such first-mentioned person, the term “employer” shall also include such first-mentioned person, and the word “employ”, with its grammatical variations and cognate expressions, shall be construed accordingly; 10 Laws of Malaysia Act 446 “estate” means any agricultural land exceeding twenty hectares in extent upon which agricultural operations of any kind are carried on or upon which the produce of any plants or trees is collected or treated, or any mine or any other place of employment so declared by order of the Minister; “Medical Officer” means a registered medical practitioner who is employed in a medical capacity by the Federal or State Government; “Medical Officer of Health” means any medical practitioner in the service of the Government or any local authority who is for the time being carrying out the duties of a Medical Officer of Health in any area, district, or local authority area, and includes the Director General, the Deputy Director General of Health, the Director of Health Services, any Deputy Director of Health Services, any State Director of Medical and Health Services and any State Deputy Director of Medical and Health Services, and for the purpose of subsection 27(1), includes any officer authorized in writing in that behalf by the Medical Officer of Health; “Minister” means the Minister charged with the responsibility for human resources; “place of employment” means a place where work is carried on by or on behalf of or for an employer and shall include any place in which employees are housed by an employer; “registered medical practitioner” means a medical practitioner registered under the Medical Act 1971 [Act 50]; “resident manager”, in relation to an estate, means any employer or agent of an employer who resides on, or is in immediate charge of, the estate in which the employees are employed; “resident registered medical practitioner”, in relation to an estate, means any registered medical practitioner employed by the employer and who resides on the estate in which the employees are employed. Exemption 4. The Minister may by order exempt from all or any of the provisions of this Act any employer or class of employers or any building or class of buildings specified in the order. Employees’ Minimum Standards of Housing, Accommodations and Amenities 11 Part II HOUSING AND OTHER AMENITIES Building to comply with requirements 5. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), no employer shall house or cause or permit to be housed any employee employed by him or by any other person (with whom he has contracted for the purpose of executing any work for or connected with his business, trade, operation or interest) in any building either owned by him or is within his possession or control which does not comply with the provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder. (2) Any building which immediately before the commencement of this Act was used for the housing of employees or as a nursery or as a community hall by an employer and was erected or converted in accordance with the requirements of any written law in force at the time of its erection or conversion may continue to be used by such employer: Provided that such building be converted to comply with the provisions of this Act or any regulations made