Retrenched in Cheras? Check if it was fair
Your Cheras job was cut and nobody explained why you were chosen.
How does a Cheras claim reach the Industrial Court?
A Cheras retrenchment claim is heard at the Industrial Court headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. You start with a written Section 20 representation to the Director General of Industrial Relations.
If conciliation does not settle the matter, the Director General sends the case straight to the court. Since the 2021 amendment you do not file a second time1.
What do Cheras retail and food jobs mean for a claim?
Cheras straddles Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Leisure Mall and Cheras Sentral anchor a busy retail and food and beverage scene, and small and medium employers provide a large share of the private jobs.
A small Cheras employer may have no HR team, so the order of selection is easy to get wrong. The usual starting point is Last In First Out: the newest person in the affected group goes first, and any departure from that needs a reason2.
What happens after you message?
Send the date you were let go and what the employer told you. An independent employment lawyer serving Cheras reviews the facts and may reply about whether, and how, they can act for you.
You can do all of this from home. The early steps need your papers and a phone, not a trip into the city.
What should you do this week?
List what happened in order, with a date beside each event. Keep your retrenchment letter, any selection list you were shown and your payslips.
Compare your case with a Kepong worker’s, and read about retrenchment in general. Then work out your exact deadline from your last working day.
If you want a lawyer to look at a retrenchment from your Cheras job, send the date you were let go and what the employer told you. An independent employment lawyer serving Cheras may review the facts and tell you 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 employer is a small Cheras business. Does the same law apply?
Yes. Size does not change the law. A small retail or food and beverage employer in Cheras must still show a genuine redundancy and a fair order of selection, just as a large company would.
Where does a Cheras retrenchment claim go?
It goes to the Industrial Court headquarters in Kuala Lumpur if conciliation fails. Since 2021 the Director General refers it directly, so you do not need to apply again once conciliation ends without a settlement.
What if my Cheras employer says the whole department closed?
A closed department can still be questioned if similar work carried on under another name, or if only some staff were kept. Ask which selection criteria were used and compare them with who actually stayed in your team.
Sources
- Since the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2020 came into force on 1 January 2021, a case that does not settle at conciliation is referred by the Director General directly to the Industrial Court. MECA, Industrial Relations Act 1967 Guide
- In a retrenchment the conventional selection principle is Last In First Out within the affected category, an employer may depart from it only with justification, and the redundancy itself must be genuine. Richard Wee Chambers
Keep reading
If you want a lawyer to look at a retrenchment from your Cheras job, send the date you were let go and what the employer told you. An independent employment lawyer serving Cheras may review the facts and tell you 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.