Flexible Working Arrangements for People with Disabilities: Comparative Legal and Technical Perspectives

Despite policy commitments to greater inclusion, Malaysia continues to face significant challenges in meeting its longstanding goal of achieving a 1% employment quota for persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the public sector. Although some progress has been made in registering PWDs and recognizing their employment rights, actual workforce participation remains strikingly low. Analysts have attributed this persistent shortfall to deeply entrenched structural and social barriers, including inaccessible physical work environments, insufficient vocational training opportunities, and limited employer incentives for inclusive hiring. These systemic issues highlight a troubling disconnect between the country’s legal frameworks that promote inclusion and the practical realities experienced by PWDs in Malaysia’s labour market. In response to global trends and advocacy for more inclusive work practices, Malaysia introduced flexible working arrangements (FWAs) through the Employment (Amendment) Act 2021, which came into force on 1 January 2023. The inclusion of Sections 60P and 60Q into the Act marked a progressive step, granting employees the right to request adjustments in working hours, days, or location. However, the current legal framework neither mandate employers to accept or consider such requests in good faith, nor does it establish any enforcement or appeals mechanism via the Labour Court or Industrial Court. In contrast to jurisdictions such as Australia and the United Kingdom, where employers are legally obliged to assess FWAs requests reasonably and are subject to review by tribunals, Malaysia’s provisions offer no statutory recourse for employees whose requests are denied. This lack of enforceability significantly weakens the potential impact of the FWAs legislation for marginalized groups, including PWDs. Without binding obligations or a functional dispute resolution process, the legal right to request FWAs in Malaysia risks being merely symbolic, offering limited practical benefit to the communities it intends to empower.