Retrenched From A Sarawak Job
Your Sarawak job was cut and you doubt why you were chosen.
Sarawak has oil and gas work around Miri and the Samalaju industrial area near Bintulu, the timber trade in Sibu, and offices in Kuching. A retrenchment in any of them follows the same national rules.
Where a Sarawak claim is heard
You start with a written Section 20 representation to the Director General of Industrial Relations.
Since 2021, a case that does not settle at conciliation goes straight from the Director General to the Industrial Court.2 No separate approval step comes in between.
How a retrenchment should run
A genuine redundancy needs a real business reason and a fair order of selection. That is conventionally last in, first out within the affected category.1
For a project-based role around Bintulu or Miri, check whether the position reopened soon after under a different contractor. For a Sibu timber trading job, ask whether the business really closed the role or only restructured around falling volumes.
In a Kuching office, ask whether a head office decision trimmed local staff while the branch stayed open.
Sending your facts from anywhere in Sarawak
You can request lawyer contact with general facts by message from Bintulu, Miri, Sibu or Kuching. Your retrenchment letter, payslips and any record of who was kept on can help an identified lawyer later, once they have contacted you and requested them.
Conciliation still needs you to attend in person. JPPM confirms which branch hears your case, so distance from the city does not delay the early steps.
Your next step
Write down what happened at your Sarawak job in order, with a date for each event. Keep your termination letter and project records.
Confirm your window with the deadline calculator before the 60 days run out.
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 papers 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 you were retrenched in Sarawak and doubt the reason or the selection, send the date you were let go and what the employer told you. An independent employment lawyer serving Sarawak 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 contractor at the Samalaju industrial area near Bintulu retrenched me when a project wound down, but rehired for the same role weeks later. Can I question that?
Yes. A genuine project end can justify retrenchment, but rehiring for the same role soon after suggests the redundancy may not have been genuine. That is worth raising in your representation.
My employer in Sibu is a timber trading firm. Where does my claim get heard?
Through the Industrial Court, which has a branch in Kuching. JPPM confirms which branch hears a claim from Sibu or Bintulu.
Does my case need a separate approval step before it reaches the court?
No. Since 2021, the Director General sends a case that fails at conciliation straight to the Industrial Court, with no extra step in between.
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
- 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
Keep reading
If you were retrenched in Sarawak and doubt the reason or the selection, send the date you were let go and what the employer told you. An independent employment lawyer serving Sarawak 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.