On July 31, 2006, Malaysia´s Minister of Human Resources, Dr. Fong Chan Onn, said to reporters that the government had drafted an amendment to the Employment Act which would raise the "salary ceiling" to 2,000 ringgit per month (about US$550).  The Employment Act gives employees the right to overtime pay, sick leave, maternity leave, and other protections.  However, it only applies to employees making under 1,500 ringgit per month (about US$400), or all manual workers regardless of wage.  Since workers making more than that amount do not have those employment protections, it is known as the "salary ceiling."

Complaints have arisen in Malaysia recently over the level of the salary ceiling.  With rising wages, some workers have fallen out of the law´s protection.  According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the average monthly wage in the manufacturing sector is about 1,750 ringgit (about US$475), up from 1,450 in 2001 (US$395).  Also, the Minister of Women, Family, and Community Development, Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, recently called it discriminatory that higher-paid women are not entitled to maternity leave.  The government estimates that the change would give employment protections to many as 300,000 more workers, out of a total workforce of about 10 million.

Minister Fong said that consensus for the amendment raising the salary ceiling had already been achieved with the Malaysian Trades Union Congress and the Malaysian Employers Federation.  The government plans to submit the amendment during the next parliamentary meeting, which begins in August 2006.