Employment & industrial relations chambers — Kuala Lumpur +60 3-2202 4188 WhatsApp
FLS Faiza Loke & SivamAdvocates & Solicitors

Employer desk

Contracts, policies & handbooks

Every dispute on the employer desk eventually opens the same two documents: the contract and the handbook. We write them to be opened — with the 2022 amendments built in, not bolted on.

What the 2022 amendments changed

The amended Employment Act 1955 (in force 1 January 2023) extended the Act to all employees with money-linked carve-outs at the RM 4,000 First Schedule threshold, cut the working week to 45 hours, extended maternity leave to 98 days and introduced 7 days' paternity leave, added a presumption of employment aimed at misclassified "contractors", required approval for foreign-employee hiring, and put flexible working arrangement requests on a statutory footing. Handbooks drafted before 2023 fail against this list more often than not — our compliance audit maps each gap.

Drafting for the dispute you have not had yet

The clauses that earn their keep are the unglamorous ones: probation and confirmation mechanics; transfer and secondment; a misconduct schedule with examples (the Industrial Court reads them); a disciplinary procedure the company can actually follow at 2 am in a warehouse; retirement age stated (the Minimum Retirement Age Act 2012 floor is 60); and confidentiality drafted to survive section 28 of the Contracts Act 1950 — because the non-compete you copied from a Singapore template will not.

A handbook is evidence. Write it as if the Chairman is the intended reader — eventually, he is.
A handbook is evidence. Write it as if the Chairman is the intended reader — eventually, he is.

Rollout without a riot

Varying existing terms needs consent, consideration and communication. We stage handbook rollouts — briefing notes, acknowledgment mechanics, transition provisions for legacy terms — so the upgrade itself does not manufacture the next constructive dismissal claim.

Questions we hear at assessments

Can we standardise contracts across our Malaysian and regional staff?

A common frame, yes — but Malaysian statutory minima, forum clauses and restraint rules must localise. One regional template enforced three ways is how employers end up compliant nowhere.

Are probation extensions lawful?

Generally yes if the contract provides for them and the extension is communicated with reasons before expiry. Probationers left in limbo become confirmed in practice — and dismissing them still requires just cause.

Get it assessed properly.

Bring the documents; leave with the deadline, the merits and the next step in writing.

Book a case assessment — RM 480 WhatsApp the firm

Mon–Fri 9am–6pm · Sat morning by appointment · +60 3-2202 4188

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