Fired, unpaid, harassed, or squeezed — what your employer can and cannot do.
Work problems in Malaysia split across the Employment Act, the Industrial Relations Act and the EPF and SOCSO systems — which is why your problem can feel like it belongs everywhere and nowhere. These guides cover dismissal (including probation and “poor performance” firings), EPF deducted but never banked in, public-holiday and overtime pay, maternity and paternity leave, workplace sexual harassment, social-media firings and non-compete clauses. If you’ve just been dismissed, mind the 60-day deadline before anything else.
A Parent Company Issued the Show-Cause Letter: Why the Dismissal Ruling Remained in ForceThe Federal Court refused leave to appeal in a dispute where a group’s parent company issued a show-cause letter and later terminated a transferred employee. The result is a practical warning to check the real employment history and authority documents before ignoring disciplinary correspondence.
Employment Contract Stamp Duty in Malaysia: The 30-Day Rule and 2026 ThresholdA written job contract can be both an employment record and a stamp-duty instrument. The practical task is to check its signing date, monthly wage, exemption position and submission record without mistaking stamping for the source of an employee's rights.
A Factory In Shah Alam Is Closing. Here Is What The Law Gives A Retrenched WorkerWhen a plant closes, most people worry about the last paycheque and nothing else. Malaysian law actually sets out a specific package — termination benefits by formula, a notice period, a form your employer must file with the Labour Department, and a 60-day window to claim EIS. Here is how each piece works.
Your Payslip's Extra SOCSO Cut Is Now Optional, and the Opt-Out Window Runs to 31 AugustSince 1 June 2026, most employees in Malaysia have had an extra 0.75% shaved off their pay for a new SOCSO scheme covering accidents outside work. On 8 July the Cabinet made it voluntary for locals. If you do nothing by 31 August, PERKESO treats you as staying in — so it is worth understanding what you are actually buying.
Civil Servants Now Work Two Days From Home. Here Is What You Can Actually Ask ForFrom 1 August 2026, eligible federal officers work three days in the office and two from home under a Public Service Department circular. It is a policy for the public service, not a new law for everybody. But sections 60P and 60Q of the Employment Act 1955 do give private-sector employees a real, if modest, right to ask.
When Quitting Counts As Being Sacked: Malaysia's Constructive Dismissal Rules And The 60-Day ClockMost people assume that once you resign, you have signed away your rights. Malaysian law does not work that way. Two 2026 decisions — an Industrial Court award against MDEC and a Court of Appeal ruling involving Universiti Selangor — show when a resignation is treated as a dismissal, and why a quiet 60-day deadline matters as much as the money.
Being a Director Does Not Cancel Your Employee Rights: The Federal Court Confirms ItA company voted two of its founders off the board, then argued they had never really been employees at all. On 24 June 2026 the Federal Court disagreed and let a roughly RM2 million award stand. The useful part is not the money — it is the test the courts used to decide who counts as an employee.
Can your boss deduct a salary overpayment in Malaysia?An employer can recover some recent wage overpayments through payroll, but section 24 does not allow unlimited deductions or every old debt to be relabelled as an overpayment.
