Malaysian workers suffer from “hire-and-fire” approach from employers

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has put the spotlight on errant employers who regularly look for ways to hire and fire workers before statutory benefits are required to be paid. MTUC secretary-general J Solomon believes there has been an increase in this sort of underhand behaviour, which defrauds workers out of their due compensation.

“In such instances, the employers must be held to account for not honouring their contractual obligations, such as paying wages as stipulated, failing to provide employees with payslips, and not remitting statutory deductions or contributions to the relevant authorities as required,” he says.

He blames lack of awareness of workers’ rights for the growth in this trend and urges them to always review their work contracts. But he added that employment contracts don’t need to be in writing. “In cases where there is a written contract, the worker should always keep a copy as this might help avoid disagreements on terms and conditions of work,” he adds.

Solomon said many young workers, even those with tertiary education, lacked knowledge on their rights in the workplace because they haven’t learned about trade unions.

He called for a bigger role within tertiary education to teach workers about their employment rights.