What A Section Representation Is
You want to challenge your dismissal and keep hearing this filing mentioned.
A Section 20 representation is the specific filing that starts an unfair dismissal case in Malaysia. Everything from conciliation to a court award flows from this one document.
What It Means
The name comes from Section 20 of the Industrial Relations Act 1967. It lets an employee who believes they were dismissed without just cause or excuse ask, in writing, to be reinstated.
You send it to the Director General of Industrial Relations, not to a court, and this single filing is what puts your case into the official system.
Why It Matters To You
This filing carries a hard deadline. You must lodge it within 60 days of your dismissal, and missing that date is one of the few mistakes in this process that is very hard to fix afterward.1
Once filed, your case moves to conciliation at JPPM, the department that arranges a meeting to try to settle the dispute before it goes any further.
How Do You File One
Set out your name, your employer’s details, your dismissal date, and a short account of what happened, in order. Keep your contract, payslips, and any dismissal letter ready to attach.
Because the 60 days start from your dismissal date and not from when you feel ready, confirm your exact deadline on the deadline calculator before you do anything else.
If your case does not settle at conciliation, it is referred onward to the Industrial Court for a full hearing.
Telling us your dismissal date and what you have filed so far helps us see exactly where your case stands right now.
Common questions
Do I need a lawyer to file this representation?
You can file it yourself, since the process is designed to be accessible. Many people still speak with a lawyer beforehand, to make sure the filing is complete and the facts are set out clearly from the start.
What happens right after I file?
The Department of Industrial Relations opens a file and arranges conciliation, a meeting where an officer helps both sides try to settle. If that fails, your case moves toward the Industrial Court.
Sources
- An employee who considers they were dismissed without just cause or excuse may make a written representation to the Director General of Industrial Relations within 60 days of the dismissal. Mah Weng Kwai & Associates, Unfair Dismissal
Keep reading
Telling us your dismissal date and what you have filed so far helps us see exactly where your case stands right now.