Malaysian Industrial Relations & Employment Law

MALAYSIAN INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS & EMPLOYMENT LAW

Eighth Edition

Author: Maimunah Aminuddin

Chapter One
An Overview

Malaysian Industrial Relations & 1
Employment Law

Preview

 Defining industrial relations
 The focus of industrial relations
 Tripartite systems and the key players
 Employment legislation
 Role of the Ministry of Human Resources

and other key agencies

Malaysian Industrial Relations & 2
Employment Law

What is industrial relations?

Industrial relations is the relationship
between an employer and his employees,
especially where the employees are members
of a trade union.

Industrial relations is also known as: 3

 Employment relations

 Labour relations
Malaysian Industrial Relations &
Employment Law

The focus of industrial relations

Industrial
Relations

Relationship Laws relating to Disciplinary
between employment procedures &
termination of
employers & Malaysian Industrial Relations & employment
trade unions Employment Law
4

Who needs to study industrial
relations?

 Workers
 Trade union leaders
 Managers
 Lawyers
 Human resource management specialists

Malaysian Industrial Relations & 5
Employment Law

Tripartite industrial relations
systems: 3 parties, all inter-related

Employers Employees &
their

trade unions

The 6
Government

Malaysian Industrial Relations &
Employment Law

Key players in Malaysian industrial
relations

 National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC)
 Ministry of Human Resources
 Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC)
 Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF)

 International Labour Organisation (ILO)

Malaysian Industrial Relations & 7
Employment Law

The International Labour
Organisation

 The ILO is an agency of the United Nations.
 It has no powers to enforce any directives or

rules.
 It formulates key labour standards which

members, including Malaysia, are expected
to implement.

Malaysian Industrial Relations & 8
Employment Law

Employment laws

 Laws providing basic benefits and rights for
employees and employers

 Laws establishing a framework for the
industrial relations system

 Social security laws
 Safety laws
 Laws restricting employment of non-

Malaysians

Malaysian Industrial Relations & 9
Employment Law

Role of the government in IR

 To protect welfare of workers
 To promote good employer-employee

relationships through a peaceful IR system
 To assist the unemployed find employment
 To conduct national level human resource

planning

Malaysian Industrial Relations & 10
Employment Law

Ministry of Human Resources 11

Departments which play a key role in IR:
 Department of Labour
 Department of Industrial Relations
 Department of Trade Union Affairs
 Department of Occupational Safety and

Health

Malaysian Industrial Relations &
Employment Law

Other key agencies

 The Employees Social Security Organisation
 The Employees Provident Fund
 The Industrial Court

Malaysian Industrial Relations & 12
Employment Law

Review

 Defining industrial relations
 The focus of industrial relations
 Tripartite systems and the key players
 Employment legislation
 Role of the Ministry of Human Resources

and other key agencies

Malaysian Industrial Relations & 13
Employment Law