The Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia (Samenta) said the Act should be reviewed so that discretionary holidays are limited to genuine emergencies or major occasions like the installation of a new king.

In a statement, Samenta president William Ng also called for a minimum notice period of at least three months for any non-urgent additional holiday.

Ng said the practice of announcing extra holidays on short notice, whether at the federal or state level, had become an unhealthy habit that impacted the economy.

He said it creates avoidable financial pressure for businesses already dealing with rising costs and an uncertain global economy.

“Businesses are built on the ability to plan. For SMEs, every working day is meticulously scheduled.

“When a holiday is declared suddenly, manufacturers face penalties and must pay triple wages to meet existing contractual obligations,” he said.

Ng said the services, retail, and food and beverage sectors were especially exposed, as perishable stock and delivery schedules could be thrown off by last-minute changes.

He said if certain celebrations were important enough to merit a holiday, they should be gazetted well ahead of time so businesses can adjust staffing and delivery plans without suffering “surprise” losses.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced an additional public holiday for Aidilfitri to allow this Friday (March 20) and next Monday (March 23) to be marked as public holidays regardless of when the festive day is declared.

Ng said research by the Centre for Future Labour Market Studies found that peak economic productivity and worker wellbeing were achieved at about 10 gazetted public holidays a year.

He said Malaysia already had one of the highest number of public holidays in the region and adding unplanned days off would hamper economic predictability.