The Government of Malaysia has re-imposed Movement Control Order ("MCO 2.0") for a 2-week period beginning 13 January 2021 and ending 26 January 2021 in 6 states i.e. Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan (including Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan), Johor, Pulau Pinang, Sabah and Melaka ("the affected States").
 
As part of MCO 2.0, only 5 economic sectors, deemed essential economic sectors, are allowed to operate in the affected States. These economic sectors include manufacturing (pengilangan dan pembuatan), construction (pembinaan), services (perkhidmatan), trading (perdagangan dan pengedaran), and agriculture and commodity (perladangan dan komoditi).
 
A full list of businesses that are allowed to operate may be viewed here  or here.

Some salient features of MCO 2.0 are as follows:-
 
  1. Businesses within the 5 economic sectors above that are allowed to operate must adhere to strict standard operating procedures ("SOPs ") which will be issued from time to time by the National Security Council and/or the relevant ministry; and which will be published on their respective websites.

  2. Employers within the businesses allowed to operate must ensure that only 30% of its management personnel work from the office at any one time whereas other categories of employees may only be present at work if their physical presence is required. Employees whose physical presence are not required at work must work from home.

  3. Employees who are required to be present at work must be furnished with a letter from their employers specifying permission to travel to the workplace.

  4. Employees who are required to travel out-of-state for work purposes are allowed to do so; and must be equipped with letters from their employers confirming their status of employment and a permission letter to travel for work purposes.

  5. Businesses operating throughout the MCO 2.0 period must register themselves with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry through the COVID-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS). Businesses that have previously registered themselves under this system during the first MCO in the March 2020 are not required to register again. They must however obtain a fresh "permission to operate" letter from the CIMS portal for the purposes of operating during the MCO 2.0.
 
The current general SOPs on the MCO 2.0 may be viewed here.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.