What The Employment Act Covers
You want to know which basic rights this law actually gives you at work.
The Employment Act 1955 is the law most people mean when they talk about their basic rights at work in Malaysia, even if they do not know it by name.
What It Means
It sets baseline entitlements such as minimum notice, annual and sick leave, maternity leave, and rules on working hours, for employees in Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan.
Reforms that took effect in 2023 widened its reach, extending coverage to all employees regardless of wage, and capping the normal working week at 45 hours.1
Why It Matters To You
The same reforms strengthened protections around pregnancy, setting maternity leave at 98 days, paternity leave at 7 days, and prohibiting dismissal because an employee is pregnant.2
This Act deals with entitlements, not directly with whether a dismissal was fair. That separate, often more central question is handled under the Industrial Relations Act instead.
What Does This Act Actually Cover
Check your payslips and contract against these baseline entitlements if you suspect something like notice pay or leave was miscalculated when your employment ended.
If your real dispute is about the reason you were dismissed rather than a specific unpaid entitlement, read about unfair dismissal and the separate 60-day claim process it involves.
You can check that specific filing window on the deadline calculator regardless of any Employment Act entitlement questions running alongside it.
Telling us your role and where you work in Malaysia helps us explain which statutory entitlements actually apply to you.
Common questions
Does the Employment Act protect me from unfair dismissal?
It sets baseline entitlements such as notice and leave, but the specific protection against unfair dismissal comes from a separate law, the Industrial Relations Act, through a Section 20 claim.
Does this Act apply to workers in Sabah and Sarawak?
It applies to Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan. Sabah and Sarawak have their own Labour Ordinances that set similar statutory entitlements for those states.
Sources
- Employment Act 1955 amendments that took effect on 1 January 2023 extended coverage to all employees regardless of wage, and introduced a maximum 45 hour work week. Malay Mail, Employment Act 1955 Amendment 2022
- The amendments in force from 1 January 2023 set maternity leave at 98 days, paternity leave at 7 days, and prohibit terminating an employee because she is pregnant. Malay Mail, Employment Act 1955 Amendment 2022
Keep reading
Telling us your role and where you work in Malaysia helps us explain which statutory entitlements actually apply to you.