How Long Does A Challenge Take
You want an honest sense of how long challenging a retrenchment usually takes to resolve.
Is Genuine Redundancy Disputed In Your Case
A retrenchment challenge often turns on whether the role was genuinely redundant. It can also turn on whether retrenchment was used to remove a particular employee4.
If you believe your case is the second kind, gathering evidence takes real preparation time. You need what the employer said about the business reason, and whether it held up.
A retrenchment backed by clear business records is harder to dispute quickly. One with a thin reason, or a role refilled soon after, often needs more digging before you file.
How Does Disputing LIFO Selection Affect Timing
Last In First Out is the conventional selection principle. An employer may depart from it, but needs sound reasons for doing so4.
If you were selected out of turn, building a comparison takes time upfront. You need who else was in your role, and their length of service.
A tidy, well-organised comparison moves faster through conciliation and any hearing than scattered, half-remembered details.
What Happens Once You File
The department usually arranges one or two conciliation sessions once you file1. If it does not resolve there, the case moves directly to the Industrial Court.
The 2020 amendment removed the ministerial screening step that used to add delay2. From there, the length depends on the court’s schedule and how contested your LIFO or redundancy argument is.
Should You Apply For EIS While You Wait
The Employment Insurance System is a separate government support scheme. Applications must be made within sixty days of termination, a deadline that runs alongside your claim3.
Apply promptly, since waiting on your dismissal claim should not delay that application. Read about the full process and check your claim deadline with the deadline calculator, then talk to a lawyer before filing a Section 20 representation.
A lawyer can give you a realistic sense of timing based on your specific selection details and redundancy reasons.
Common questions
Is EIS the same process as challenging my retrenchment
No, EIS is a separate government income support scheme through PERKESO, not part of your unfair dismissal claim. You can apply for EIS and pursue a claim at the same time, since one does not depend on the other.
Does disputing the LIFO order add time to my case
It can, since you need to gather who else was in your role, their length of service, and how the employer explained its selection. A tidy comparison speeds up the hearing once you have it.
How long does conciliation usually take
The department typically arranges one or two sessions, with the gap between them depending on scheduling for both sides. Some cases resolve here, which shortens the overall timeline.
What if I think the retrenchment was not genuine
If you believe the role was not actually redundant, or that retrenchment was used to remove you for another reason, that dispute usually adds preparation time. Gathering evidence of the business reason given, and whether it holds up, becomes central.
Sources
- After a representation is filed, the Department of Industrial Relations usually arranges one to two conciliation sessions between the employer and the employee. Mah Weng Kwai & Associates
- Since the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2020 came into force, a case that fails at conciliation is referred directly to the Industrial Court by the Director General, without ministerial screening. MECA
- The Employment Insurance System gives workers who lose their job involuntarily temporary financial help, including a job search allowance for three to six months, and applications must be made within sixty days of termination. Malaysia.gov.my
- Last In First Out is the conventional selection principle for retrenchment, and an employer may depart from it but must have sound reasons for doing so; retrenchment must also be for a genuine redundancy rather than a disguised dismissal. Richard Wee Chambers
Keep reading
A lawyer can give you a realistic sense of timing based on your specific selection details and redundancy reasons.