EMPLOYMENT DISMISSAL (解雇)

“You don’t have to come to work tomorrow,” an employer says to an employee.

This is a line we often hear in movies. But is such a practice lawful in Malaysia? Can an employee really be dismissed by a single sentence from the employer?

The answer is no—it is neither reasonable nor lawful. Generally, before an employer may terminate an employee’s contract of employment, the employer must give the employee reasonable notice. Malaysian law does not specify precisely how many months’ notice would be considered reasonable. However, English cases have explained that what constitutes a reasonable period depends on the customs and practices of each country. In Malaysia, the notice period will ordinarily follow the period stipulated in the employment contract. A notice period of between one and six months is generally considered reasonable.

Nevertheless, an employee may still be dismissed immediately without notice if the employee has committed “serious misconduct.” Examples may include unethical conduct at work, insubordination, criminal conduct or misappropriation of company property. The misconduct must be sufficiently serious to justify immediate dismissal.

Under Malaysian law, an immediate termination of this nature is regarded as a “direct dismissal.” If the dismissed employee is dissatisfied and believes that he or she has done nothing wrong, the employee may lodge a complaint with the Labour Department or the Industrial Relations Department in Putrajaya, or even commence legal proceedings against the employer. The employer must then prove before the court or the relevant authority that the dismissed employee had indeed committed misconduct and that the employer’s decision was based solely on the misconduct, without personal prejudice or malice.

If the employer is unable to prove that the employee committed misconduct sufficiently serious to justify immediate dismissal, or if the employee’s mistake was not so serious as to be beyond remedy, the employer may be found liable for unfair dismissal and may be required to pay appropriate compensation to the dismissed employee.

Having explained what may constitute an unreasonable dismissal and its consequences, some clever readers may think:

“Well, if I want to dismiss an employee simply because I do not like him or her, but I do not want to face the legal consequences, I could make things difficult for that employee and force him or her to resign voluntarily. Then the employee would not be able to sue me.”

Such conduct is not only unethical; it will not work either. This is because, apart from “direct dismissal,” Malaysian law also recognises another form of dismissal known as “constructive dismissal.”

As the term suggests, this refers to circumstances deliberately created to force an employee to leave. Examples include placing the employee’s workstation next to a toilet, subjecting the employee to sexual harassment, or taking any other action that makes the employee’s working life intolerable.

In such circumstances, the affected employee may resign and take action against the employer within a short period—preferably within 60 days. However, before the court or the relevant authority, the burden of proving the employer’s conduct will rest on the employee. The employee must prove what the employer did to compel him or her to resign.

After reading the above, if you are an employer, you should think carefully before dismissing anyone. If you are an employee, make sure that you understand your rights. If you are dismissed without proper cause, you should have the courage to take legal action to protect your interests.

”你明天不用来上班了”，一位老板对他的员工说。

很多时后我们都会在电影往往听到的一句话，可是，到底在马来西亚这是合法的一个做法吗？一位员工真的可以被老板这样的一句话被炒了吗？ 答案是不合理也不合法的。

首先，在一位老板可以终止某人的工作合约之前，他/她必须给予该员工合理的通知。

我们大马的法律没有详细说明多少个月的通知被确认是合理，但是英国的案例曾经解释说，合理期限是取决于不同国家自己的习俗。而在马来西亚通知的期限通常会遵循工作合约中规定的期限, 通常1到6个月都被认为是合理的。 可是，一名员工仍然可以在没有被发通告的情况下被立刻解雇，那是如果该位员工犯下了”严重不端的行为”。

例如，这种行为可以是员工在工作时犯了不道德的行为，不服从上司，任何犯罪行为，侵占公司财产，等等。 这种种的行为必须是非常严重，严重到可以合理化立即解雇。

立即解雇在马来西亚的法律被视为“直接解雇” （direct dismissal), 哪么如果被解雇的员工不满意和觉得自己没有做错，他/她可以向在布城的劳动部门或工业关系部门做出投诉甚至可以在法庭起诉该雇主。这时雇主必须向法庭或相当部门证明被他终止的哪位员工真的已犯下了什么不当的行为和该雇主只是对事不对人和不含恶意。 哪么如果该雇主向法庭或相当部门解释后没办法证明被解雇的员工到底犯了什么严重不端的行为足以合理化立即解雇或是被解雇的哪位员工其实也不是犯了什么不能弥补的错，该雇主可能会因不公平解雇而被判有错，然而需对那名被解雇的员工做出适当的赔偿。

解释了什么会构成无理解雇和它的后果之后，可能有一些聪明读者会想到 ：“诶，那么如果我想炒一名员工纯粹是因为我不喜欢他/她的脸孔，但是我又不想承担法律后果，我大可以对她/他做一些小动作逼她/他自愿辞职！那么他/她就不能告我了”。

这样做不仅是不道德，这招也行不同。因为在马来西亚，除了有“直接解雇” 之外还有一种解雇被称”建设性解雇” （constructive dismissal”)。顾名思义，这是一种被计划过的解雇，例如，把某某员工的座位安排在厕所旁边，性骚扰，或任何行动导致该员工无法忍受他/她的工作生活，等等。 在这种情况下，被影响的那位员工可以辞职，然后在短时间内（建议在60天内）向雇主做出起诉。

但是，在法院或在相关部门，举证雇主的责任将会落在该员工身上，然而该员工必须要证明他/她的雇主对他/她做出什么事情来逼他/她辞职。 阅读了以上的文章之后，如果您是一位老板，希望您想解雇任何人之前，三思而后行，那么如果您是一位员工，确保您了解您员工的权益，如果真的被无故解雇，该勇敢的采取法律行动来保证自己的利益。