Retrenched From A Sabah Job
Your Sabah job was cut and you doubt why you were chosen.
A palm oil estate near Sandakan works differently from a Kota Kinabalu hotel or a Tawau port terminal. A retrenchment in any of them follows the same Section 20 process.
Where a Sabah claim is heard
You send your written Section 20 representation to the Director General of Industrial Relations, wherever in Sabah you worked.
If conciliation does not resolve the matter, the case goes to the Industrial Court, which has a branch in Kota Kinabalu. JPPM confirms which branch hears it, wherever in Sabah you worked.
What a fair retrenchment looks like
An employer cannot simply pick who goes. It needs a real drop in business and a fair order for choosing which staff are let go.1
On an estate near Sandakan or Tawau, check whether newer hires stayed on while workers with longer service were let go without a clear reason.
You are not limited to a Section 20 claim. PERKESO’s Employment Insurance System gives temporary support after involuntary job loss, and that claim should also be made within 60 days.2
Sending your facts from anywhere in Sabah
You can start with a message from a Sandakan estate office, a Tawau warehouse or Kota Kinabalu. Keep photos of your termination letter and payslips, and your notes about who else was let go, private until an identified independent lawyer contacts you and specifically requests them.
Conciliation still needs you to attend in person, and JPPM tells you when and where.
Your next step
Note your last working day and the reason you were given. Add anyone kept on in a role like yours.
Use the deadline calculator to confirm your filing window, and check your Employment Insurance System claim in the same week.
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 those details and the date you were let go directly to that lawyer. They can review the facts and reply on whether and how they can take the claim forward.
If your Sabah role was cut and you want to challenge the retrenchment, send the date you were let go and what the employer told you. An independent employment lawyer serving Sabah 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 estate near Sandakan retrenched half its workers but kept staff hired more recently. Is that allowed?
Not without a reason. The usual principle is last in, first out within the same category of staff, and the estate must justify keeping a more recently hired worker over you.
I work in tourism near Tanjung Aru in Kota Kinabalu. Does my retrenchment claim get heard locally?
The Industrial Court has a branch in Kota Kinabalu, and JPPM confirms which branch hears a claim from Tawau or Sandakan.
Does the Sabah Labour Ordinance affect what I can claim after a retrenchment?
The Ordinance sets Sabah-specific entitlements such as leave and notice. A Section 20 claim about how the retrenchment was carried out runs alongside it, not in place of it.
Sources
- 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
- The Employment Insurance System run by PERKESO gives temporary financial help to those who lose their jobs involuntarily, and a claim should be made within 60 days of termination. malaysia.gov.my (PERKESO EIS)
Keep reading
If your Sabah role was cut and you want to challenge the retrenchment, send the date you were let go and what the employer told you. An independent employment lawyer serving Sabah 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.