Malaysian Civil Servants to Officially WFH Two Days a Week Starting August

The Malaysian Cabinet has approved the implementation of Hybrid Working Days (HWD) as a new norm for civil servants starting 1 August. Under the new arrangement, the Public Service Department stated that civil servants are allowed to work from home (WFH) two days a week from their residence or another location approved by their department head, and work from the office (WFO) for three days, while adhering to service requirements and departmental guidelines. The department said the matter of office attendance days is left to the regulations of each respective state. For states where the weekly rest day falls on Sunday, civil servants are required to report to the office on Monday and Friday. For Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu, where the weekly rest day falls on Friday, Sunday and Thursday have been designated as mandatory office attendance days. The department stated that this new arrangement will replace the existing work-from-home policy, which was introduced in response to the Middle East conflict. “HWD is a new government initiative that provides a more flexible work arrangement for civil servants without reducing official working hours,” the department said in a statement on 26 June, as reported by the official news agency Bernama. The implementation of HWD will not affect essential government services to the public. Counter services and functions requiring physical presence will continue to operate as usual, including in the security, defence, education, health, and judicial sectors.