TOPIC 1

OVERVIEW OF
INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS IN
MALAYSIA
 LEARNING OUTCOMES:
At the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
1) Define the concept of IR in Malaysia
2) Understand the meaning of industrial harmony,
the effects and its important.
3) Identify the principles of IR in Malaysia.
4) Identify the government roles and functions in
IR in Malaysia
 DEFINITION OF INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS

 IR is the field of study that examines the relations

between employers and their workers (the manner in
which the relationship between employers or groups
of employers is carried out and the methods that they
use in their relationship with each other).
 Examining the relationship between workers and
employers within the work environment.

employer employee
EMPLOYMENT
 Who is employer?
Any person who has entered into a contract of service toemploy and other
person as an employee (S2 EA).
Who is employee?
Employee – includes full-time, part-time employees & apprentices (S2
EA)
What is Contract of service/employment?
any agreement, whether oral or in writing and whether express or
implied whereby one person agrees to employ another as an employee
and that other agrees to serve his employer as an employee and includes
apprenticeship contract. (Sec. 2, EA, 1950).
any agreement, whether oral or in writing and whether express or
implied, whereby one person agrees to employ another as a workman and
that other agrees to serve his employer as a workman (Sec. 2, IRA, 1967)
 THE QUALITY OF IR ARE INFLUENCED BY 2
FACTORS:

1. Labour Legislation – affect the r’ship between e’yer and e’yee

 IRA 1967 – e’yers and TU
 EA 1955 – individual e’yer and individual e’yee
 TUA 1959 – TU and union federations.

2. Trade Unionism
Without unions, employer are free to determine the relations between them
– who is to be hired, amount of wages to be paid, benefits to be provided, etc.
With unions, workers will have a chance to protect themselves from
exploitation by employers and to promote their economic interests.
 THE PRINCIPLES OF IR SYSTEM IN
MALAYSIA (AS DISCUSSED IN IRA 1967)

1) The principles of Trade Unionism

2) The principles of Recognition
3) The principles of Collective Bargaining and
Agreement.
4) The principles of Dispute Resolution

(refer to Wu Min Aun, Industrial Relations Law of

Malaysia)
 OBJECTIVES OF INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS

To regulate and help minimize industrial

conflicts in order to maintain industrial
harmony.
 INDUSTRIAL HARMONY

 The r’ship between e’yers and e’yees is peacefully

conducted
 Number of trade disputes is small
 Any disputes occurred are settled successfully
 High tolerance between them
 Friendly and agreeable
IMPORTANCE OF HARMONIOUS
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
 EFFECTS OF INDUSTRIAL
HARMONY
EMPLOYEES:
 Increased motivation
 Increased productivity
 Increased loyalty encourage them to be creative which will
benefits the organization.
EMPLOYERS:
 Increased profit
 Give more attention and use time to improve organization
operation
 Provide better benefits for e’yees.
 STRATEGIES TO ENSURE HARMONIOUS
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
 Workers must be allowed to form and join trade union
 Employers must recognize trade union
 Workers and employers must agree to have collective
bargaining regularly
 Workers and employers must follow the agreement
stated in collective agreement / contract of service
 Trade union leaders must be able to communicate
with the employers to enable them to perform their
roles effectively in protecting workers from greedy
employers / manipulation by employers.
TYPES OF DECISION MAKING IN THE
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SYSTEM

Unilateral: by employer
Bilateral: by both employer and
employees
Tripartite: by employer and employees
with intervention of government
TRIPARTITE SYSTEM IN MALAYSIAN
INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Tripartite
discussion:
National Labor
Advisory Council
(involve rep from
MTUC,
CUEPACS, MEF
and MOHR
 ROLES OF THE MALAYSIAN
GOVERNMENT IN IR

1) Legislator – through the Parliament

(legislating laws)
2) Administrator – through the MOHR
(enforcing labour legislations)
3) Participant – through Minister of HR
4) Employer – the largest in the country (public
sector).
 MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCES

OBJECTIVES
i. To protect the welfare of workers i.e. safety, health and
rights.
ii. To promote good employer–employee relationships
through a stable and peaceful industrial relations system.
iii. To equip the unemployed with basic industrial skills and
to improve the skill-level of the workforce; and
iv. To assist in maximising the country’s manpower resources
through manpower planning.
This Ministry comprises seven departments namely:
 Department of Labour, Peninsular Malaysia.
 Department of Labour, Sabah.
 Department of Labour, Sarawak.
 Department of Industrial Relations.
 Department of Trade Union Affairs.
 Manpower Department.
 Department of Occupational Safety and Health.
END OF LECTURE