Maternity Leave In Malaysia Is 98 Days, Not 60. Fathers Get 7 Days — But Only If Married.

If you find a Malaysian article saying maternity leave is 60 days, it is describing the law as it stood before 1 January 2023.

The Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 raised paid maternity leave from 60 days to 98 consecutive days and introduced, for the first time in Malaysian history, statutory paternity leave of 7 consecutive days.

Before 2023, paternity leave had no statutory basis at all. It was whatever your employer felt like giving you.

1. Maternity leave — s.37

"Confinement" has a statutory definition that matters. It means childbirth resulting after at least 22 weeks of pregnancy, in the issue of a child or children, whether alive or deceased.

Read that last phrase carefully. A stillbirth after 22 weeks is a confinement. The entitlement is not conditional on the baby surviving. This is a point employers get wrong and grieving families are rarely in a position to argue about.

A worked example on the dates. If your due date is 1 March, your leave can begin as early as 30 January, and 98 days would end on 7 May. If you instead start on 2 March — the day after delivery — your 98 days end on 7 June. Map your return-to-work date before you go on leave.

Returning early. An employee may return before the 98 days are up, but this requires both the employer's consent and a medical certificate from a registered medical practitioner confirming she is fit to resume work. An employer cannot pressure an employee to return early, and any early return must be mutually agreed and documented.

Extension beyond 98 days as unpaid leave is a matter of agreement, not a statutory right.

2. The two eligibility conditions — and the trap

To qualify for the maternity allowance, a female employee must have been:

• employed by the employer at any time during the 4 months immediately preceding her confinement, and
• employed by the employer for at least 90 days during the 9 months immediately preceding her confinement

Both conditions, not either.

The 5-children rule. No maternity allowance is payable if the employee has 5 or more surviving children at the time of her confinement.

Here is where sources diverge and you should be careful. Peninsular guidance ties the 5-surviving-children rule to the allowance. But the Sarawak Labour Department's own FAQ states that a female employee is entitled to 98 days of maternity leave for every confinement occurring after 22 weeks of pregnancy, regardless of the number of living children.

We could not fully reconcile the peninsular and Sarawak positions on whether the 5-children rule limits the leave, the allowance, or both. If you have five or more children, ask JTK directly rather than accepting an employer's assertion.

3. Paternity leave — s.60FA

This is new, narrow, and heavily conditioned.

Three things to note.

"Consecutive" means consecutive. You cannot split the 7 days across the month.

"Married" is a hard condition. An unmarried father has no statutory entitlement under s.60FA.

The 5-confinement limit is lifetime and cross-spouse. But per the Ministry's own FAQ, paternity leave granted before 1 January 2023 — for example under a collective agreement — is not counted toward the statutory maximum of five.

4. Protection against dismissal

It is an offence to terminate a female employee during her pregnancy or maternity leave, or where she is suffering from an illness arising from her pregnancy.

The amendment strengthened this: employers are prohibited from dismissing an employee while pregnant, or following birth, if she experiences complications or illnesses arising from the pregnancy.

Termination is only possible in narrow circumstances, such as a wilful breach of a contractual term by the employee — and an employer relying on that should expect scrutiny.

Practical point: if you are dismissed while pregnant or on maternity leave, the burden effectively falls on the employer to justify it. See (Unfair Dismissal in Malaysia: Fired for No Good Reason? You Have 60 Days to Act) for the unfair dismissal route.

5. Sabah and Sarawak — they have caught up

This is the detail most articles miss, and it changed recently.

The Employment Act 1955 applies to Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan only. Sabah is governed by the Labour Ordinance (Sabah) Cap. 67 and Sarawak by the Labour Ordinance (Sarawak) Cap. 76.

When the peninsular amendment took effect in January 2023, Sabah and Sarawak were not covered — the Ministry's FAQ said so expressly at the time.

That has since changed:

• Sarawak — a Bill was reported in December 2024 increasing maternity leave from 60 to 98 days, introducing 7-day paternity leave, raising the overtime threshold from RM2,001 to RM4,000 monthly, expanding coverage to all workers regardless of income, separating sick leave and hospitalisation leave, and providing six mandatory public holidays including Sarawak Independence Day.
• Sabah — the Labour Ordinance of Sabah (Amendment) Act 2025 (Act A1753) increased maternity leave to 98 days, introduced 7 days of paternity leave, allowed flexible work arrangements, and raised penalties for violations from RM10,000 to RM50,000.

So the practical position across Malaysia is now 98 days and 7 days. But the governing statute differs by region, and so do some details — check the Ordinance that applies to you, not the Employment Act, if you are in Sabah or Sarawak.

Civil servants are different again. They are governed by JPA circulars (Pekeliling Perkhidmatan), not the Employment Act, and entitlements vary by grade and service conditions. Teachers are subject to different provisions. Check with your HR department or the applicable Pekeliling.

6. SOCSO and miscarriage

On SOCSO. PERKESO administers employment injury and invalidity schemes. We could not verify the current scope of any SOCSO maternity benefit as distinct from the employer-paid maternity allowance under s.37, and have not asserted one. Ask PERKESO directly — the employer-paid allowance is the primary entitlement and does not depend on SOCSO.

On miscarriage before 22 weeks. Because "confinement" is defined as childbirth after at least 22 weeks, a pregnancy loss before that point falls outside the maternity leave provisions. That does not mean you have no entitlement — ordinary sick leave and hospitalisation leave provisions apply, supported by a medical certificate, and the amendment separated sick leave from hospitalisation leave.

This is a hard thing to have to navigate. If you need to talk to someone: Talian HEAL 15555 (8am–midnight) or Befrienders KL 03-7627 2929 (24 hours).

7. If your employer refuses

Your employer cannot legally refuse maternity leave or withhold the maternity allowance.

Step by step:

1. Put the request in writing and keep a copy. Include your expected confinement date and your intended leave start date.
2. Give the notification. For paternity leave, notification at least 30 days before expected confinement is a statutory condition — missing it can cost you the entitlement.
3. Ask for the refusal in writing. Most employers become reasonable at this point.
4. Gather your evidence: employment start date, payslips covering the 9 months before confinement, your contract, the medical confirmation of pregnancy, and the written request and refusal.
5. Complain to the Labour Department. For Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan, JTKSM — Jabatan Tenaga Kerja Semenanjung Malaysia, Aras 5 Blok D3 Kompleks D, Putrajaya, 03-8886 5192, jtksm@mohr.gov.my. For Sabah: JTK Sabah, 088-238755 / 233820. For Sarawak: JTK Sarawak, 082-242261 / 414062.
6. The Director has power to inquire into complaints and make orders.
7. If you were dismissed, that is a separate and stronger claim — see the unfair dismissal route.

Note the Sabah penalty increase: fines for violations rose from RM10,000 to RM50,000 under the 2025 amendment. Enforcement is not nominal.