Pushed Out Of A Kuala Lumpur Job
Your Kuala Lumpur employer pressured you until staying became impossible.
Kuala Lumpur is home to the Industrial Court headquarters and to many head offices and regional offices. If you were pushed to resign from one of them, your claim can stay in the city from start to finish.
The test is the same as anywhere else in Malaysia.
What the court asks
The leading case, Wong Chee Hong v Cathay Organisation, asks whether your employer breached the contract at its root. It does not matter whether any letter used the word dismissal.1
You start by sending a written Section 20 representation to the Director General. You have 60 days from the dismissal to do it.2
How pushing out looks in a city office
In an office around Jalan Ampang or Jalan Tun Razak, a worker may be pushed out through a new reporting line, a stripped title or a quiet reassignment. No dismissal letter is ever sent.
The same can be true of a performance improvement plan. A genuine plan is fine, but one built on targets that were never realistic may point the other way.
The court looks at whether the pattern breached the root of your contract, whatever the internal memo called it.
Where your case is heard
The Industrial Court headquarters and the Department of Industrial Relations are both in Kuala Lumpur. JPPM confirms which branch hears your case, so you do not need to work it out yourself.
Conciliation still needs you to attend in person.
Your next move
List the changes to your role in the order they happened, with a date for each. Timing affects how the case is read.
Save the emails and messages that show what changed. They carry more weight than a summary written from memory.
Confirm your deadline with the deadline calculator. If you are unsure whether you were pushed out or made redundant, read how retrenchment differs.
If you want a lawyer to act, request lawyer contact first; only after an identified independent lawyer has contacted you and specifically requested the material, send your resignation date, your role history and those messages directly to that lawyer. They can review the facts and reply on whether and how they can take the case forward.
If you want a lawyer to take on a forced resignation from your Kuala Lumpur job, send the date you resigned and what your employer did. An independent employment lawyer serving Kuala Lumpur may review the facts and reply on whether and how they can act.
For people seeking legal representation. For general information, please use our guides and tools.
First contact: general facts only, such as date, location, employment status and a short summary. Keep documents private until an identified independent lawyer contacts you and specifically requests them.
Common questions
My regional office role near Jalan Ampang was stripped of duties instead of ended outright. Does that still count?
It can. The contract test looks at whether your employer's conduct breached the contract at its root, not at whether a formal letter used the word dismissal. Quietly stripping your duties can fit the test.
Which branch hears a Kuala Lumpur claim?
The Industrial Court headquarters and the Department of Industrial Relations are both in Kuala Lumpur, and JPPM confirms which branch hears your case.
My employer called my move to a smaller team a restructuring. Should I still get advice?
A genuine restructuring can be a fair reason, but a move that cuts your pay, title or authority without a real business case is worth checking. It is better to check before you resign than after.
Sources
- The leading authority Wong Chee Hong v Cathay Organisation (M) Sdn Bhd established that constructive dismissal is decided by the contract test: the worker may treat the contract as ended if the employer commits a breach going to the root of the contract. Thomas Philip Advocates & Solicitors
- A worker dismissed without just cause or excuse may make a written representation to the Director General of Industrial Relations seeking reinstatement within 60 days of the dismissal under Section 20 of the Industrial Relations Act 1967. Mah Weng Kwai & Associates
Keep reading
If you want a lawyer to take on a forced resignation from your Kuala Lumpur job, send the date you resigned and what your employer did. An independent employment lawyer serving Kuala Lumpur may review the facts and reply on whether and how they can act.
For people seeking legal representation. For general information, please use our guides and tools.
First contact: general facts only, such as date, location, employment status and a short summary. Keep documents private until an identified independent lawyer contacts you and specifically requests them.