Fired For Performance No Warning

You were told your performance was not good enough, and within the same conversation, that your job had already ended. No warning came before that day.

Performance dismissals in Malaysia are expected to follow some process, usually warnings or a documented plan, before ending someone’s job. Skipping straight to dismissal is unusual and can point toward an unfair dismissal.

Does a performance dismissal need warnings first?

Fair process generally expects an employee to be told their performance is falling short, given a real chance to improve, and warned about the consequences before dismissal follows.

Jumping straight from silence to dismissal removes that chance entirely. It can suggest the stated reason is not the full story.

What if there is no paper trail of any concerns?

Ask your former employer, in writing, for any documentation of the performance issues they relied on, including prior reviews or feedback.

If none exists, that absence is itself meaningful. A sudden dismissal with no history of concern raised beforehand is harder for an employer to justify.

Who carries the burden of proving your performance justified this?

Your employer must prove there was just cause or excuse for the dismissal, which includes showing your performance genuinely fell short and that dismissal was a fair response¹.

A single bad week, or one disputed incident, is different from a documented pattern over time. The lack of warnings weakens their side of that story.

How long do you have to act?

You have sixty days from the date of dismissal to file a Section 20 representation with the Director General of Industrial Relations².

If successful, remedies can include reinstatement or back wages capped at twenty four months for a confirmed employee and twelve months for a probationer³.

What should you do this week?

Gather your past performance reviews, appraisal ratings, and any positive feedback you received before this sudden dismissal.

Write a timeline of your recent work, including anything that might explain a dip in output, such as a heavy workload. For a related pattern where a plan was used instead, read about a PIP built to justify dismissal, and use the deadline calculator to track your sixty days.