What you can do if you are being terminated by your employer

We like you to understand that every termination process is different due to the different nature of your employment contract, the details of your termination process, and also the situation of your company. This post is merely a rough reference to help you seek proper consultation and it is not meant to be taken as a bible. We highly recommend you to take counsel from the appropriate authority before taking an action against your employer. 

Also read: Retrenched because of the pandemic? Here are the 5 things you need to do.

Being terminated is not a pleasant experience. However a lot of companies are facing financial difficulties to maintain their operation cost. With low business revenue, some companies opted for retrenchment. While bigger corporation have the capacity to carry out proper retrenchment processes, some smaller companies may be ignorant of the employee's rights. If you think you have been illegally terminated by your employer, here are the things you can do:

 

Assess your employment status and the manner you are terminated

A lot of details needed to be assessed by your employment contract. First, check your offer letter and look for the termination clause. Or is your employment a contract basis for a period of time. From the clause, ask yourself "did your employer honour that termination clause stated?". Generally, permanent employees reserve more rights compared to a contract employee.  

Observe how the termination process has been carried out. Were you given an official letter? How did your employer communicate the process to you? Were you given a room for Q&A? All the details sets firing and termination apart. For example, if your employer told you that you have been terminated due to disciplinary issue, then you have no claim to it.

This is why we highly recommend you to consult a career specialist in order to understand your situation better.

Talk to the others who experienced the same in your company

You could talk to the rest of your coworkers that have a same fate as you. This is to find out if the communication is consistent and also if you could take action against your employer in a group. If legal action has to happen later, a group action will be more favourable to you instead of individual complains. 

Talk to your worker's union

A worker's union is usually formed amongst those who are earning minimum wage, or in a large company. Worker's union's purpose is to protect the rights of the employees and also act as the middle person between the employer and employee. It is also a form of membership. If there is a worker's union in your company, it is beneficial to join it. There is a monthly fee imposed but the fee is reasonable. 

If there is no worker's union in your company, you could talk to employer's relation department that is within the HR. 

Consult JTK

The most effective way is to consult Jabatan Tenaga Kerja, it is an extended division from the Human Resources Ministry in Malaysia. Prior to retrenchment, all companies have to submit their application and get a consultation from the government agency. If you submit your complaint, chances are, JTK already know whether you are illegally terminated. 

JTK is usually highly responsive. You can just give them a call or visit their nearest office within your state. Below are the phone numbers of JTK which you might find useful

Perlis - 04-977 1928

Kedah (main) - 04-731 4420

Kedah (Kulim) - 04-490 6566

Penang (main) - 04-263 2087 

Penang (Butterworth) - 04-575 1957

Perak (Ipoh) - 05-254 9405

Perak (Taiping) - 05-807 2655

Perak (Teluk Intan) - 05-622 1199

Perak (Sitiawan) - 05-688 8643

Perak (Grik) - 05-791 2213

Selangor (Main) - 03-5632 8800

Selangor (Klang) - 03-3168 9111

Wilayah Persekutuan - 03-4141 4600

Negeri Sembilan - 06-724 9111

Melaka - 06-234 5171

Johor (main) - 07-224 3188

Johor (Johor Bahru) - 07-222 2400

Johor (Kluang) - 07-772 1646

Johor (Segamat) - 07-931 1414

Johor (Muar) - 06-951 1672

Kelantan (main) - 09-747 9111

Kelantan (Kota Bharu) - 09-748 5078

Kelantan (Kuala Krai) - 09-966 6381

Terengganu (main) - 09-620 3791

Terengganu (Kuala Terengganu) - 09-622 1488

Terengganu (Kemaman) - 09-859 1831

Terengganu (Dungun) - 09-845 3037

Pahang (main) - 09-514 6042

Pahang (Termeloh) - 09-296 1207

Pahang (Pekan) - 09-422 1319

Pahang (Bentong) - 09-222 1402

Pahang (Raub) - 09-355 1166

Sarawak - 082-242 261

Sabah - 088-233 820

Complain to MOHR - Labour Department or Industrial Relations Department

Your last resort should be filing a complaint to the Ministry of Human Resources. The process is lengthy, you need to submit a lot of documents and also the queuing can take a long time. It's convenient now that you can file a complaint via the website. 

Before submitting your complaint, you need to prepare all the necessary documents such as your offer letter, payslips, termination letter (or prove of termination), etc. Also useful to the process is that you need to determine if your employment fall under Employment Act 1955 (non-exempt employment) or Industrial Act 1977 (exempt employment).