Edited by NormanJB at 20-2-2018 07:15 PM
Malaysians were dumbfounded to have discovered that the local hotel industry are guilty of discriminatory practises, when it was revealed that some female employees were banned from donning the hijab.
This led to the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR) to identify 13 out of 88 hotelsin Peninsular Malaysia, prohibiting their female employees donning the hijab during working hours. Following the uproar, three hotel associations - the Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH), Malaysian Association of Hotel Owners (MAHO) and the Malaysia Budget Hotel Association (MYBHA) – have pledged to end the hijab ban policy, and hence forth provide a glimmer of hope for women in the industry.
But MD recently sat down with former and current employees in the hotel industry and found that the religious discrimination that exists within the industry goes beyond donning the hijab.
Hotel Employees Recount Their Woes
While Najwa Sakinah professed that some of her female colleagues were forced to remove their hijab during working hours, she lamented that the discrimination against hijab-donning ladies starts during the interview phase.
“When I went to an interview at a five-star hotel located in Jalan Ampang, the interviewers asked me to remove my hijab as they wanted to see if I looked ‘decent’,” the former receptionist at a budget hotel recalled.
“But when I refused to oblige, they mentioned that the local hotel industry adheres to international standards first and foremost, and that the industry has no room to accommodate to any religious obligations.”
As shocking as the statement may be, 26-year-old Ayesha Dania revealed that another five-star hotel in Bukit Bintang prohibited her from praying as her supervisor stated that the hotel is understaffed.
However, the housekeeper pointed out that the hotel employed over 100 housekeepers, with majority of them being non-Muslims, and questioned why performing her religious obligations for 10 minutes is disallowed.
But difficulties in praying was not limited to female employees only, as Omar Saiful communicated that he too found it difficult to perform his prayers during his two-month tenure at a five-star hotel in Jalan Pinang.
“It was hard for me to perform my prayers on time, and sometimes I can’t perform my prayers at all as it clashes with lunchtime serving – where all kitchen staffs are required to be on standby,” the former cook sighed.
“And apart from missing my Zohor prayers (midday prayers), I’ve missed performing my Friday prayers too because my supervisor said we’re understaffed and told me ‘You can’t leave’.”
Aside from the insufficient praying time, Aadryan Loh, tendered his resignation after a four-star hotel he was working in, in Jalan Ampang, asked him to work during Ramadhan, without giving him time to break his fast and perform his prayers.
“Just because I look Chinese, my former employers assumed that I wouldn’t mind working during ‘breaking fast’, which is why I can’t perform my Maghrib prayers (after sunset prayers) on time, delay breaking my fast and sometimes delay performing my Tarawih.
“But when I conveyed these issues to my head chef, he questioned why should I be too concerned when I don’t look like a Muslim,” the 26-year-old described and added that some hotels are inconsiderate when planning out their employees’ schedule and rotation.
Union Urges Employees To Know Their Rights And Speak Up
“We don’t deny that some hotel employees have encountered difficulties to perform their prayers during working hours, and Friday prayers,” the president noted. “But because we have yet to receive any official complaint or report, we can’t act on it.”
However, Mohamed Shafie clarified that there are two environments to the hotel industry in Malaysia and emphasised that they govern how policies at each hotel is outlined. “The first is that some hotels are unionised, where they are represented by an outsourced or insourced union or association.
“The second is non-unionised hotels, in which they represent themselves via groups and forums.”
For unionised hotels, the president clarified that a Collective Binding Agreement (CBA) – which has been discussed and agreed between employees and management, prior having the court legalise the document – stipulates that a hotel must provide sufficient time for Muslim employees to perform their prayers.
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Post time 20-2-2018 07:13 PM
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