The controversy surrounding a hotel's decision to ban frontline staff from wearing the headscarf underscores the need for laws to ensure equal opportunities at work, PKR vice-president Mohd Rafizi Ramli said.

Rafizi said the hotel's decision does not violate any law in force, and the problem, which he described as being based on prejudice, would recur unless the necessary laws are legislated.

One solution would be the Fair Work and Career Opportunity Act, which Rafizi proposed in his book “Guide to Rebuilding Our Nation” published earlier this year.

"(This law) will guarantee job opportunities and fairness to all Malaysians, thus making discrimination based on religion, race, gender and disabilities a crime," he said in a statement today...