Sick Leave Entitlement in Malaysia + Bonus Topic: Sick Leave vs Hospitalization Leave

Written by: Izz Murtada

Getting sick is never fun. But in Malaysia, the law makes sure you don’t have to choose between your health and your salary. This right comes from the Employment Act 1955, and it applies to almost every worker in the country, no matter how much you earn. Many people think this law only protects workers who earn below a certain amount. That used to be true, but not anymore. Since the law was updated, the sick leave rule under Section 60F applies to all employees who have signed a contract of service, whether you are a fresh graduate earning your first pay cheque or a senior manager earning five figures a month.

Let’s break down what sick leave really means, how many days you are entitled to, and how it is different from hospitalisation leave.

1.What Is Sick Leave?

Sick leave is paid time off given to an employee who is too unwell to work. It is not just a nice gesture from your boss. It is a legal right under Section 60F of the Employment Act 1955.

Here is the catch though. You cannot just message your boss saying “I’m not feeling well today” and call it sick leave. The law says you need to be examined by a proper medical professional. This can be:

• A registered doctor appointed by your company, or
• Any other registered doctor or medical officer, if your company has not appointed one or if that doctor is not available in time

Once the doctor certifies that you are unfit for work, you are entitled to paid sick leave. Your employer must pay you your normal daily rate for every day you are on certified sick leave. If you are paid monthly, this simply means you still get your full salary that month, even with the sick days included.

There is one more rule to remember. You need to inform your employer about your sick leave within 48 hours from when it starts. If you do not, even with a valid medical certificate, the law treats it as if you were absent without permission. So even if you are lying in bed with a fever, try to send that message or ask someone to send it for you.

2.How Many Days of Sick Leave Do You Get?

The number of sick days you get depends on how long you have worked with your current employer. The longer you stay, the more days you earn. Here is how it works, based on ordinary illness that does not require hospital admission.

• Less than 2 years of service: 14 days of paid sick leave a year
• Within 2 to 5 years of service: 18 days of paid sick leave a year
• 5 years or more of service: 22 days of paid sick leave a year

These numbers are calendar year totals, meaning they reset every year, not per illness. So if you catch the flu twice in one year, both periods come out of the same yearly pool.

This also applies if you visit a dental surgeon and are certified unfit for work due to a dental issue. The good news is that dental sick leave is not an extra allowance on top of your normal sick leave. It is included within the same 14, 18, or 22 day limit, depending on your years of service.

3.What Is Hospitalisation Leave?

Now here is where a lot of people get confused. Hospitalisation leave is not the same as sick leave, even though both fall under the same section of the law.

If a doctor certifies that your condition is serious enough to require hospital admission, you are entitled to a much longer stretch of paid leave. Under the law, this is capped at 60 days in total for each calendar year. This 60 day allowance already includes any of the shorter sick leave days mentioned earlier, so they are not stacked on top of each other.

Here is an interesting part of the law that many people are not aware of. Even if you are certified as needing hospitalisation but for some reason you do not actually get admitted (maybe there are no available beds, or you choose to rest at home instead), the law still treats you as if you were hospitalised. This protects you from losing out on leave entitlement just because of a technicality outside your control.

One thing to note is that this hospitalisation leave does not apply if you are already receiving maternity allowance, or if you are getting compensation payments under workplace injury or social security schemes for the same period. This is to prevent an employee from receiving two types of payment for the same period of absence.

 

Bonus Topic:

Sick Leave vs Hospitalisation Leave

So what is the real difference between the two? Think of it this way. Sick leave is for the common stuff, like the flu, a bad headache, food poisoning, or a nasty cough that needs a day or two of rest. Hospitalisation leave is for the serious stuff, like surgery, an accident, or an illness that needs proper medical monitoring in a hospital bed.

 

Here is a simple side by side comparison to make it clearer.

	Sick Leave	Hospitalisation Leave
Who decides	Registered doctor or medical officer	Registered doctor or medical officer
Days allowed per year	14, 18, or 22 days, based on years of service	Up to 60 days
Includes the other type	No	Yes, includes the days from ordinary sick leave
Payment	Full ordinary pay for each day	Full ordinary pay for each day
Notice needed	Inform employer within 48 hours	Inform employer within 48 hours

The key thing to remember is that hospitalisation leave is not a separate bucket that sits on top of your regular sick leave. The 60 days already covers everything, both hospital stay and ordinary sick days used earlier in the year. So if you have already used 10 days of normal sick leave and then get hospitalized for a serious illness, you do not get 22 plus 60 days. Instead, your entitlement for that illness falls under the 60 day hospitalisation limit.

 

Why This Matters

Understanding your sick leave and hospitalisation leave rights is not just useful when you are unwell. It also helps you plan ahead, whether you are budgeting your year, deciding when to see a doctor, or simply making sure your employer is following the law correctly. For employers, getting this right is just as important. Paying staff correctly during sick leave, keeping proper records, and understanding the difference between the two types of leave all help build a workplace that people trust and want to stay in.

At the end of the day, this law exists so that nobody has to choose between going to work sick or losing their pay. Getting the details right can be tricky though, especially when it comes to payroll and record keeping. That is where having a trusted HR and payroll partner like Kita Strategies can make things a lot easier for growing businesses in Malaysia.