Who The Law Actually Counts As Protected
You earn a decent salary and wonder whether that puts you outside this protection.
Workman is a word that sounds like it belongs to a factory floor, yet in Malaysian dismissal law it covers a far wider group of people than that.
What does the statute mean by this term?
It is the label the Industrial Relations Act uses for an employee protected by its rules, including the right to challenge a dismissal under Section 20.
The definition looks at the substance of your role and your relationship with your employer, not simply the job title printed on your contract.
Does your salary or title change anything?
A common worry is that earning well, or holding a manager title, removes this protection. In practice, that is rarely the case on its own.
This coverage question is separate from the Employment Act, which historically applied only up to a salary threshold before reforms widened it in 2023.1
Why does this distinction actually matter to you?
A worker can usually still bring an unfair dismissal claim even where a specific Employment Act benefit provision would not directly apply to their pay level.
The two laws protect different things: one sets baseline entitlements, the other decides whether your dismissal itself needs a just cause or excuse.
What can genuinely change the answer?
Real decision-making power, such as hiring, firing or setting company policy independently, is what courts look at more closely for senior roles.
A title alone rarely settles the question either way, which is why the actual facts of your role matter more than what your name card says.
What should you do with this today?
Write down your real duties, not just your title, since that account is what actually helps assess where you stand under this definition.
Read about unfair dismissal for the wider picture, then check your own filing window on the deadline calculator regardless of your salary level.
Tell us your actual job title and what your day-to-day duties involved, and we can explain how this definition would likely apply to you.
Common questions
Does my job title of manager or executive exclude me?
Not automatically. What matters more is whether you genuinely held independent decision-making power, not the label printed on your business card.
Does a high salary block me from filing under this law?
No. This particular protection is not capped by salary in the way some Employment Act benefits historically were, so most high earners are still covered.
Is this the same test used to decide Employment Act benefits?
No, the two laws serve different purposes and use different coverage rules. Being outside one does not automatically mean you are outside the other.
Sources
- Employment Act 1955 amendments in force from 1 January 2023 extended statutory coverage to all employees regardless of wage, while the unfair dismissal route under Section 20 of the Industrial Relations Act is a separate protection that is not limited by that same wage threshold. Malay Mail, Employment Act 1955 Amendment 2022
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Tell us your actual job title and what your day-to-day duties involved, and we can explain how this definition would likely apply to you.