The Employment (Amendment) Act 2022 comes into force on 1st January 2023. With effect from that date, the Minister of Human Resources amended the First Schedule and increased the scope of the Act from persons earning not more than RM 2,000 to all persons engaged under a contract of service. This was indeed a quantum leap benefiting all employees in the country. The interest of employers was safeguarded by limiting entitlement to payments for overtime work on rest days and public holidays and termination benefits to those earning up to RM 4,000. One of the greatest benefits that all employees irrespective of salary will enjoy is access to the Labour Court. The entire Act and related Regulations have been presented with practical examples and relevant case law. Questions have also been provided to encourage the reader to apply the law to practical problems that usually arise in the course of the HR practitioner’s work. A brief explanation of the salient provisions of the Minimum Retirement Age Act 2012 has also been included in Chapter 11. An additional feature of this edition is the inclusion of more than 60 FAQs with answers.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
T.BALASUBRAMANIAM
T.Balasubramaniam has been involved in industrial relations since 1961. After obtaining a Second Class Upper Honours in Social Science (Econs), with distinction in Industrial Relations, he also obtained his LLB (Hons). He founded Meca Employers Consulting Agency in which he was the CEO and Principal Legal Advisor. He has served on the National Labour Advisory Council and has represented employers before the Industrial Court and the Labour Court. He has also served as a part-time lecturer in Labour Law at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, a part-time tutor in Economics at Universiti Malaya and in Quantitative Methods at Universiti Sains Malaysia. He has conducted numerous courses on labour law and industrial relations and is the author of five previous books on labour law.
DHARMEN SIVALINGAM
Dharmen Sivalingam obtained his LLB (Hons) in 1994 and CLP in 2000. After that, he joined the Malaysian Current Law Journal as legal editor. From there, he went into practice at a leading law firm followed by a stint at Federal Auto as Head of Commercial Affairs. He then joined Shell as IR/ER Manager and rejoined MECA until 2013. In that year, he decided to return to practice and set up Dharmen Sivalingam and Partners but still remains as a Director of MECA and is involved in providing training services.
ANNA BALASUBRAMANIAM
Anna Balasubramaniam joined MECA in 1996 as a Research and Training Officer after obtaining her LLB (Hons). She was promoted in 1997 to Consultant. In 1997, she obtained the Certificate in Legal Practice (CLP) and thereafter commenced legal practice in a leading law firm in Kuala Lumpur where she served in the Employment Law division. She ceased practice in July 2001 and returned to MECA as Consultant. She became Principal Legal Adviser in 2005 where she has been involved in training and consultation on all aspects of industrial relations. Her particular area of expertise is in drafting charges and advising on the proper methods for convening domestic inquiries. She is presently the Managing Director of MECA.
