The Star Malaysia reports that right groups across Malaysia say laws allowing 104 hours of overtime per month must be amended as this is allowing Malaysia to be entangled in propagating forced labour. A collective statement undersigned by 20 groups, organisations and trade unions said the Employment (Limitation of Overtime Work) Regulations 1980 must be amended to ensure that working hours with overtime, work on rest days and public holidays shall not exceed 56 per week on average. This is in line with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention, which states that workers should work not more than eight hours per day or not more than 48 hours a week, but in cases where the nature of the production process requires a continuous succession of shifts, a 56-hour weekly maximum limit on average may be applied.

"Even though Malaysia has reduced weekly working hours from 48 to 45 beginning January 2023, it is useless if the legal overtime limit remains 104 hours a month,” the collective statement said. Meanwhile, the groups also called for the government to abolish compounds for forced labour and workers' rights violations and ensure that human decision makers such as company directors and managers are charged, tried and convicted. The groups also called for the government to ensure that victims of labour offences are justly compensated.