{
  "id": 16857171,
  "title": "Employers cannot arbitrarily lower job qualification requirements",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/employers-cannot-arbitrarily-lower-job-qualification-requirements",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-28T06:08:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2026/10/1565392/employers-cannot-arbitrarily-lower-job-qualification"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The New Straits Times reports that Malaysian employers will no longer be able to lower job qualification requirements for employees based on their educational qualifications, if amendments to the National Wages Consultative Council Act 2011 (Act 732) are implemented. According to Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan, these amendments would incorporate educational qualification levels to enable the mandatory setting of minimum starting salaries for graduates in the future. This means that employers cannot simply disregard employees' qualifications when determining their positions. The Deputy Minister also addressed concerns raised by Wan Razali Wan Nor (PN-Kuantan) about employers potentially lowering qualification requirements to avoid paying stipulated starting salaries for graduates. Khairul Firdaus assured that the Department of Manpower assesses the effectiveness of training programs based on various factors, including alignment with industry needs and industry involvement in training implementation. The National Wages Consultative Council is also updating the basic starting salary guidelines based on the Malaysia Standard Classification of Occupations, with the new Minimum Wages Order set to take effect in June 2027 and include a basic starting salary of RM2,500 per month for graduates and semi-skilled workers.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}