E Contrario

The following article is published in the Sun and Sun2Surf, Tuesday, 23 Jan 2007.

The reporter Pauline interviewed me last week in my capacity of the director of Labour Resource Center (LRC), my labour hat. It is true that our laws are highly inadequate to protect employees. All of us know that reform is needed but the government has no will to change. We must also build a stronger union movement which could challenge the status quo.

Currently a large section of employees are excluded from ordinary labour protection by the arbitary categorization by the employers. We need to change this too, more of these so-called excutives should be given rights to unionize.

Six-year wait for a ‘no’
Pauline Puah

PETALING JAYA (Jan 22, 2007): A woman is angry that she had to wait six years before being told by the Industrial Relations Department (IRD) that her unfair dismissal case would not be referred to the Industrial Court.

Manjit Kaur, 45, started work in a company in 1983 as an office administrator and later as a personnel and administration manager. On May 31, 2000, she was deemed redundant after the company was acquired, and was given a 24-hour termination notice.

In June the same year, she filed an unfair dismissal complaint with the IRD. Last December, she finally heard from the IRD - that the minister had decided against referring her case to the Industrial Court.

Manjit asked the department to substantiate the decision but it replied that under Section 20 (3) of the Industrial Relations Act (IRA) 1967, the human resources minister was not obliged to explain his decision.

The Act states that the minister has the final say whether to refer a case to the Industrial Court.

Manjit told theSun the ordeal of trying to seek recourse through the IRD was most “frustrating”. She could take her case to the civil court, but it would be too costly.

IRD director-general Md Yunus Razzaly said Manjit’s case was one of 6,000 which the department tried to clear since he took over in 2002.

“Now, we will try to clear all the new cases within six months,” he said, adding that the ministry’s legal department was short of manpower.

Asked if the policy of not giving a reason lacked transparency, he said: “Don’t worry. If there is merit, we certainly will refer the case.”

Lawyer Edward Saw, who is familiar with industrial relations cases, said the only option is to ask for a judicial review of the minister’s power.

“Our decision-makers do not have to be accountable to the public about how they exercise their discretion. So are we being ruled by a tyrant?” he asked, adding that complainants should be given a reason on the rule of accountability.

Saw said based on his experience, it is quite “common” for a complaint filed with the IRD to take two to three years to clear.

Labour Resource Centre director Tian Chua said waiting for six years was “outrageous” although the IRD has a lot of cases to deal with. “They take a very long time to process a case. So they don’t give timely protection to those in need,” he said.

WHAT THE LAW SAYS:

* A worker who feels he/she is unfairly dismissed can make a claim for reinstatement with the IRD. The claim must be filed within 60 days of dismissal.
* The IRD will convene conciliation meetings between the employer and employee to settle the matter.
* If no settlement is reached, the industrial relations officer will report to the minister, who is empowered to decide whether to refer the case to the Industrial Court.

source: Industrial Relations Act