BlackRevo blog · Employee rights

Emergency leave, unpaid leave and the other leave the Employment Act does not mention

Yap Pat Yih, Co-founder and General Manager · 2026-09-30 · 8 min read

Emergency, unpaid, compassionate, replacement and half-day leave are not in the Employment Act. What each one is, what your employer decides, and how unpaid days are deducted.

Emergency leave, unpaid leave, compassionate leave, replacement leave and half-day leave have one thing in common: none of them is an entitlement under the Employment Act 1955. The Act gives you annual leave, sick and hospitalisation leave, paid public holidays, maternity leave and paternity leave. Everything else is company policy: your contract and handbook decide. What the Act does fix is how an unpaid day comes off your pay.

TL;DR

Emergency leave: what it is and what it is not

Emergency leave is leave you could not plan: a family member in hospital, a flooded house, a car that will not start. The Act does not mention it. An employer treats it one of two ways: as annual leave applied for after the fact, or as unpaid leave when annual leave is used up. Some companies set aside a few emergency days a year on top of annual leave; that is a benefit, not a right.

What an employer's policy usually asks: that you tell them before work starts, or as soon as you can; that you give the reason; and that you show something for it afterwards, such as a hospital slip. Nothing in the Act obliges an employer to approve emergency leave, so when the reason does not fit its policy, the day can be treated as absence without permission under its rules.

At BlackRevo, emergency leave is annual leave or, when that is used up, unpaid leave. Tell us before the start of work and put the application into Lumen, our HR system, within 48 hours of coming back.

Unpaid leave: who decides, and how it is deducted

Unpaid leave is time off without pay, usually once your annual leave is used up. The Act does not entitle you to it. It mentions unpaid leave only as something an employer may grant, so approving it is your employer's decision.

What the Act does fix, since 1 January 2023, is the arithmetic. Section 18A covers a monthly-paid employee who "took leave of absence without pay for one or more days of the month", and says the month's wages are calculated as monthly wages × (number of days eligible in the wage period ÷ number of days of the particular wage period). The divisor is the calendar days in that month, not 26. So one day of unpaid leave on RM3,000 a month costs:

Three things follow. First, the rate depends on the month: a day costs more in February than in October. Second, contributions follow the wages paid: EPF is paid on the month's wages (section 43(1) of the EPF Act 1991), and SOCSO and EIS on the total wages paid for the month, so a month with unpaid days also puts a little less into your retirement savings. Third, a long break counts against your service: if unpaid leave adds up to more than 30 days, the Act leaves that period out when your length of service is counted (section 60E(3B)).

At BlackRevo, apply for unpaid leave at least five days ahead; approval is at the company's discretion, and the days come off that month's wages by the section 18A formula. Unpaid leave is not taken during a notice period.

Compassionate leave

Compassionate leave, sometimes called bereavement leave, is paid time off when an immediate family member dies or is critically ill. It is not in the Act. Most Malaysian employers give a few days, and the definition of "immediate family" is where policies differ most: spouse, children and parents nearly always; siblings, grandparents and in-laws sometimes. Ask for the list before you need it.

At BlackRevo it is up to seven working days a year for an immediate family member, and the list is written down: spouse, children, parents, siblings, parents-in-law, grandparents and grandparents-in-law, grandchildren, a legal guardian, and step-parents and step-siblings. Supporting documents when you are back.

Replacement leave

Replacement leave, or time off in lieu, is a day off given because you worked on a rest day or a public holiday. The Act does not provide for it. What it sets is pay. If you are monthly-paid and work on a paid public holiday, you receive two days' wages at the ordinary rate on top of that day's holiday pay, and at least three times your hourly rate for overtime that day (section 60D(3)). On a rest day, you receive half a day's wages for up to half your normal hours, one day's wages for up to your full normal hours, and at least twice your hourly rate beyond them (section 60(3)). These pay rules apply to employees earning RM4,000 a month or less.

What the Act does allow is moving a holiday: by agreement, you and your employer may substitute another day for any of the six public holidays your employer chooses each year, though not for the five fixed ones, such as National Day and Malaysia Day (section 60D(1A)). A day off in place of the extra pay is a matter for your contract, and where it exists it usually expires.

At BlackRevo, replacement leave is granted for work on a rest day, a public holiday or beyond your normal days of work, unless that work is paid as the Employment Act requires, and it must be used within 90 days of the day worked or it lapses. Lumen shows the expiry date.

Half-day leave and the rest

Half-day leave is annual leave taken in halves. The Act counts annual leave in whole days and says nothing about taking half a day, so whether you can take a morning off against half a day of leave is company policy. The same goes for marriage leave, birthday leave, study leave and exam leave: welcome benefits where they exist, and none of them statutory. At BlackRevo the handbook lists marriage leave (two consecutive working days), birthday leave (one day, in your birthday month) and study leave (up to two working days a year for a certification, diploma, degree, master's or PhD), each with its own paperwork.

The one rule that covers all of them

Every leave type in this post is decided by a policy, and every policy has a notice rule. Read the leave page of the handbook in your first week and note four things: how far ahead to apply, who approves, what counts as an emergency, and what happens to unused days. Annual leave and sick leave, the two with the law behind them, are covered in our annual leave guide and our sick leave guide.

If you are reading this before your first job, our open roles are on the careers page.

Source: the Employment Act 1955 (Act 265), reprint as at 1 August 2023, sections 18A, 60(3), 60D and 60E(3B).

FAQ

Is emergency leave a legal entitlement in Malaysia?

No. The Employment Act 1955 does not provide for emergency leave. Employers treat it as annual leave taken at short notice or as unpaid leave, under their own policy, and may ask for a reason and proof.

Do you need proof for emergency leave?

Only if your employer's policy asks for it, and many do: a hospital slip, a police report or a repair receipt. Tell your employer before work starts and keep whatever paper the day produced.

How many days of unpaid leave can you take in Malaysia?

There is no legal limit and no legal entitlement; it is whatever your employer approves. The month's pay is then worked out by calendar days under section 18A, and if unpaid leave adds up to more than 30 days, that period is left out of your length of service.

How is unpaid leave calculated in Malaysia?

Under section 18A of the Employment Act: monthly wage × days you are paid for ÷ days in that month. On RM3,000, one unpaid day is RM100 in a 30-day month and RM96.77 in a 31-day month.

How many days is compassionate leave in Malaysia?

It is not set by law. Most employers give a few paid days for an immediate family member; BlackRevo gives up to seven working days a year. Check how your company defines immediate family.

Yap Pat Yih: Yap Pat Yih is Co-founder and General Manager of BlackRevo and looks after the team, the hiring and the HR system they run on.

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