Malaysian union workers have called for the retraction of a recent proposal to fire employees caught surfing pornographic websites on the spot, saying the move was "harsh and too extreme", reports said today.

The Malaysian Employers Federation on Friday had called on all employers not to give "a second chance" before dismissing workers found logged on to lewd websites.

However, the Malaysian Trade Union Congress dismissed the move as "harsh and too extreme".

"Such conduct does not warrant a dismissal. That would be a harsh decision," said union president Zainal Rampak.

Opportunity to explain

"Employees must be given the opportunity to explain or defend themselves at the very least. You cannot simply dismiss anyone," he was quoted as saying by the New Sunday Times newspaper.

Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was reported to have said Saturday that civil servants caught surfing porn were deemed to have committed "a major offense", but said perpetrators caught doing it "once or twice" could still be disciplined through warnings.

"If a worker surfs the Internet for pornography for hours every day he is not only abusing government equipment, but also wasting time and corrupting himself," he said.

Abdullah said such an act was punishable under existing laws against misuse of office equipment, adding that the government would look into a separate provision if the problem was found to be widespread. AFP