Medical certificates, or MCs, have become a hot topic among Malaysians again after a viral Threads post claimed that employees may no longer need to submit their MCs to their employers themselves.
According to the post, doctors would instead send the MC directly to the employer in order to reduce fake MC cases.
However, before everyone starts panicking, it should be noted that this is currently a proposal, not an official nationwide rule.
MEF proposes doctors send MCs directly to employers
According to Buletin TV3, the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) has proposed that doctors send medical certificates directly to employers as a way to reduce the misuse and falsification of MCs.
MEF president Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman reportedly said that if employers and doctors were able to communicate directly, the chances of MCs being falsified or manipulated could be reduced.
He also said the current system still leaves room for abuse, as many MCs are still submitted manually by employees.
This means that under the proposal, employees who are genuinely unwell would still be able to get their MCs, but the document would be verified and sent through a more direct channel.
Fake MC cases allegedly becoming more common
The issue comes amid concerns that fake MCs are becoming increasingly common in Malaysia.
Earlier reports claimed that more than four million workers in Malaysia had allegedly pretended to be sick or obtained MCs improperly.
MEF was also reported as saying that 57% of employers had faced situations involving employees taking sick leave without reasonable cause.
The concern is that some workers may be treating MCs like extra annual leave, which in turn causes employers to become more suspicious even when other employees are genuinely sick.
This has led to a bigger debate online, with some Malaysians saying stricter verification is needed, while others argued that doctors may end up with more administrative work.
Some Malaysians worried doctors will have more work
Following the viral post, many Malaysians shared mixed reactions online.
Some agreed that fake MCs are unfair to companies and colleagues, especially when other staff have to cover the workload.
Others, however, felt that the proposal could make things harder for doctors, who are already dealing with long queues, consultations, reports, and other medical paperwork.
Several netizens also pointed out that employees are legally entitled to sick leave, and that the real issue should be fake MCs, not genuine workers who fall ill.
Is this confirmed yet?
At the moment, no.
The proposal has been raised by MEF, but there has been no official announcement saying that doctors must now send MCs directly to employers nationwide.
In other words, employees should still follow their company’s existing MC submission process unless their employer or the authorities announce otherwise.
