1.
RETIREMENT AGE
Existing Employment Conditions
There exists gender biasness in the retirement age, whereby female
cabin crew take early retirement at 40 years of age or 45 years for
female supervisors, whilst all male cabin crew retire at 55 years
of age.
Upon
early retirement, a female cabin crew receives a "special gratuity
at the rate of RM800 per year for every completed year of service
with the Company".
Discriminatory
Practices
i. The existing employment conditions contravene Article 8[2]
of the Federal Constitution, which clearly states that "there
shall be no discrimination on the grounds only of religion, race,
descent, place of birth or gender". This guarantees the right
of women and men to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.
The
different ages of retirement for MAS female and male cabin crew violate
the Federal Constitution.
ii.
The retirement age for female cabin crew from other international
airlines puts to shame the employment policies of MAS. Their retirement
age are as indicated below:
Air
India 60 years
Thai Airways International 60 years
Cathay Pacific 60 years
All Nippon Airways 65 years
Lufthansa 60 years
Air Asia 55 years
iii.
It is also known that double standards are practiced by the management
of MAS. For example, expatriate female cabin crew, employed by MAS,
are allowed to retire at the age of 60 or 65, in full compliance with
their country's employment law. Yet, when it comes to its own Malaysian
staff, female cabin crew are forced to retire early.
iv.
Malaysia is also committed to uphold respect and equality for women
being a signatory to the UN Convention for the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Under Article 11 it
states that:
1.
State Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against women in the field of employment in order to ensure, on a
basis of equality of men and women, the same rights, in particular:
a) The right to work as an inalienable right of all human beings:
e) The right to social security, particularly in cases of retirement,
unemployment, sickness, invalidity and old age and other incapacity
to work, as well as the right to paid leave."
This
clearly upholds women's right to the same employment opportunities.
The
gratuity offered to female cabin crew upon their early retirement
is meagre and shows a total disrespect towards the years of contribution
that they have made towards building the good image of MAS. Therefore,
this gratuity policy becomes irrelevant if MAS increases the retirement
age of female cabin crew to 55 years of age.
For
example, upon early retirement, a female cabin crew will only receive
RM16,000 (This is calculated on the following formula: RM800 x 20
years of service) as a token of appreciation for her 20 years of dedication
to MAS. This is contrasted with RM414,000 (for 15 extra years of service;
this is calculated on the following formula: (RM2,300 salary per month
x 12 months x extra 15 years of service) which she will lose due to
her early retirement. It must be noted that this special gratuity
is also subjected to taxation. On the other hand, all male cabin crew
are allowed to continue to work till they are 55 years of age, with
full pay and benefits.
It
also makes more economic sense to maintain experienced and well-trained
female cabin crew than to spend millions of ringgit on advertisement,
recruitment and training for newer and less experienced workers.
2.
MATERNITY LEAVE
Existing Employment Conditions
The Collective Agreement between the management of MAS and MASEU states
that "a married female cabin crew with five or more years of
service … shall be granted leave without pay from the date she
is declared medically unfit to fly by a medical practitioner. The
leave without pay shall commence not later than the end of her second
month of pregnancy. She shall not be entitled to medical leave and
compassionate leave during the period she is granted leave without
pay."
Discriminatory
Practices
i. It must be stressed that income generated by women is vital
for the survival of the family. The denial of seven months' pay in
the course of a woman's pregnancy is a violation of worker's right
and it does not accord respect and recognition to women's contribution
towards the growth and well-being of the company.
This
further perpetuates the stereotype roles that women's contribution
is considered secondary to the workforce of MAS.
IiFemale
cabin crew should not be penalised based on their reproductive function,
i.e. to be pregnant and to have children. Such a maternity policy
falls short of ensuring an equitable coverage for women and infringes
on their effective right to work.
Article
11 of CEDAW guarantees that equitable maternity benefit as an inalienable
right to all human beings. It states the following:
1(f). the right to protection of health and to safety in working conditions,
including the safeguarding of the function of reproduction;
2.
In order to prevent discrimination against women on the grounds of
marriage or maternity and to ensure their effective right to work,
State Parties shall take appropriate measures:
(a.) To prohibit, subject to the imposition of sanctions, dismissed
on the grounds of pregnancy or of maternity leave and discrimination
in dismissals on the basis of marital status;
(b.) To introduce maternity leave with pay or with comparable social
benefits without loss of former employment, seniority or social allowance.
In
any Collective Agreement, the terms and conditions should leave workers
in a better condition as compared with the Employment Act, 1955. This
means that a worker is guaranteed of all benefits attached to maternity,
including her entitlement to full pay during pregnancy.
Unfortunately the Collective Agreement between MAS and MASEU provides
for employment conditions that are below the acceptable standards
as set by the Employment Act, 1955.
3.
TWO SURVIVING CHILDREN
Existing Employment Conditions
A female cabin crew is only entitled to maternity leave benefits "for
not more than two surviving children. In the event that she becomes
pregnant after having two surviving children, she shall resign from
the Company, failing which the Company reserves the right to terminate
her services."
Discriminatory
Practices
i. Limiting female cabin crew to two surviving children indicates
a non-compliance to Section 37 (c) of the Employment Act of 1955 (Act
265), which states that it is only when a woman has five or more surviving
children that she will not be entitled to any maternity allowance.
Ii The female cabin crew should not be terminated on the basis of
having a third child. This policy coerces women to fit into a particular
pattern of reproduction. This infringes on women's right to choose
and to make their own decision freely and responsibly in terms of
the number, spacing and timing of their children.
