Kesejahteraan Sosial

8 KOMPENDIUM REKOMENDASI POLISI KESEJAHTERAAN PSIKOLOGI PERKHIDMATAN AWAM KESEJAHTERAAN SOSIAL 4.2.1.2 Insufficient Paternity Leave The current policy provisions for paternity leave in Malaysia remain extremely limited, offering only 1 to 20 days of leave, which is often combined with other forms of non-paternity leave such as bereavement leave, examination leave, religious leave, parental leave and court leave. These inadequacies reinforce entrenched gender norms that view childcare primarily as a woman’s responsibility. As a result, women continue to bear a disproportionate share of caring responsibilities, intensifying work-family conflict and reducing opportunities for shared coping mechanisms within the household. At the people’s level, this imbalance is further deepened by prevailing societal attitudes rooted in traditional conceptions of masculinity and fatherhood, which discourage active paternal involvement. The environment and culture in many Malaysian workplaces provide limited support for fathers in early childcare, leaving mothers to juggle multiple roles with minimal support from their spouse. This situation places additional emotional strain on women and erodes their ability to manage the dual demands of employment and caregiving. 4.2.1.3 Rigid Flexibilisation of Work and Family (Staggered Working Hours) While staggered working hours are commendable in principle, there is considerable rigidity in both the design and implementation of the policy. Existing procedures and guidelines tend to be too generalised and do not consider the diverse caregiving needs of employees, i.e., whether they care for infants, school-age children or elderly dependents. In sectors such as healthcare, retail and manufacturing, where operational demands limit the ability to schedule flexibly, this procedural rigidity presents a major practical challenge. For many working women, particularly those on low incomes or working shifts, the inability to adapt work hours to caregiving responsibilities intensifies time-related conflicts. This in turn undermines the use of adaptive coping strategies such as planning or household negotiations. Over time, the accumulation of such stressors negatively impacts their emotional well-being and their ability to effectively manage their work and family responsibilities.