Industrial Relation (Amendment) Act 2020

This Act comes into operation on a date to be appointed by the Minister by notification in the Gazette and the Minister may appoint different dates for the coming into operation of different provisions of this Act.

in subsection (2), by substituting for the words

“shall notify the Minister” the words “may, if he thinks fit, refer the complaint to the Court for hearing”; and

by deleting subsection (2a).

by deleting subsection (1c);

in subsection (1d), by substituting for the words

“Upon receipt of the notification under subsection (1c), the Minister” the words “Where the matter is not resolved under subsection (1b), the Director General”;

in paragraph (3)(a), by inserting after the words

“accord recognition” the words “subject to the scope of membership of the trade union of workmen concerned as on the date of claim and in accordance with the constitution of the trade union of workmen making the claim”;

in paragraph (4a)(a), by substituting for the words

“the competence of the trade union of workmen concerned”

the words “the scope of membership of the trade union of workmen concerned as on the date of claim, whether it is in accordance with the constitution of the trade union of workmen making the claim”;

in paragraph (4a)(b), by substituting for the words

“who are members of” the words “to indicate support for”;

Industrial Relations (Amendment)

by deleting paragraph (4b)(b);

by deleting subsection (4c);

by substituting for subsection (5) the following subsection:

“(5)  Upon ascertaining the matter under subsection (4a), the Director General shall give his decision. Where the Director General decides that recognition is to be accorded, such recognition shall be deemed to be accorded by the employer or trade union of employers concerned, as the case may be, from such date as the Director General may specify.”; and

by deleting subsection (6).

Amendment of section 10

in subsection (1), by substituting for the word “Minister”

the words “Director General”; and

in paragraph (2)(b), by substituting for the word “Minister”

the words “Director General”.

by substituting for the word “Minister” the words “Director

General”; and

by substituting for the words “three years” the words

“one year”.

the trade unions of workmen concerned may decide among themselves which trade union of workmen shall have the sole bargaining rights to represent such workmen or class of workmen and shall notify the Director General; or

if there is no agreement as to which trade union of workmen has the sole bargaining rights to represent such workmen or class of workmen, the employer or trade union of employers or any trade union of workmen concerned, may make an application in writing to the Director General to determine which of the trade union of workmen has the sole bargaining rights to represent such workmen or class of workmen.

Upon receiving an application in writing under paragraph (1)(b), the Director General may take such steps to determine the application or to make such enquiries by way of secret ballot, to ascertain the highest number of votes indicating the preference for a trade union of workmen to have the sole bargaining rights to represent such workmen or class of workmen.

Industrial Relations (Amendment)

Where the result of the secret ballot shows a tie, a further secret ballot shall be carried out by the Director

General until the highest number of votes indicating the preference for a trade union of workmen to have the sole bargaining rights to represent such workmen or class of workmen is ascertained.

Upon ascertaining the matter under subsection (1),

or (3), the Director General shall decide that the trade union of workmen which obtained the highest number of votes shall have the sole bargaining rights to represent such workmen or class of workmen.

For the purposes of carrying out his functions under subsection (1), (2) or (3), the Director General—

Where the Director General has made a decision under subsection (4), the trade union of workmen which the Director

General has decided to have obtained the highest number of votes shall have the sole bargaining rights to represent such workmen or class of workmen.

Subject to section 12b, the sole bargaining rights to represent such workmen or class of workmen granted pursuant to this section shall cease to exist in the event another trade union of workmen has obtained the sole bargaining rights to represent such workmen or class of workmen.

Trade unions obtained sole bargaining rights 12b. Where a trade union of workmen has obtained the sole bargaining rights to represent any workmen or class of workmen whether by a decision of the Director General or otherwise, no other trade unions of workmen shall have the sole bargaining rights to represent such workmen or class of workmen unless a period of three years has elapsed after the sole bargaining rights to represent such workmen or class of workmen has been obtained or the trade union of workmen which has obtained the sole bargaining rights is no longer in existence.”.

Amendment of section 13

in subsection (1)—

by inserting after the words “Where a” the word

“sole”; and

in subsection (2), by substituting for the full stop a colon;

by inserting after subsection (2) the following proviso:

“Provided that where there is an existing collective agreement between an employer and a trade union of workmen which represents the same workmen or any class of workmen or between a trade union of employers and a trade union of workmen which represents the same workmen or any class of workmen which is still in force, an invitation to commence collective bargaining shall only be made ninety days or less before the expiry of such collective agreement.”; and

in subsection (3), by substituting for the words “procedures of promotion of workmen” the words “matters specified in paragraphs (a) to (f)”.

Industrial Relations (Amendment)

9

Amendment of section 20

in subsection (2), by deleting the words “; where the

Director General is satisfied that there is no likelihood of the representations being settled, he shall notify the

Minister accordingly”;

by substituting for subsection (3) the following subsection:

“(3)  Where the Director General is satisfied that there is no likelihood of the representations being settled under subsection (2), the Director General shall refer the representations to the Court for an award.”;

in subparagraph (6)(a)(ii), by deleting the word “or”;

in subparagraph (6)(a)(iii), by substituting for the word

“and” the word “or”;

by inserting after subparagraph (6)(a)(iii) the following subparagraph:

“(iv) be represented by any other person except an advocate and solicitor, duly authorized by the employer in writing and subject to the permission of the Director General; and”;

in subparagraph (6)(b)(ii), by deleting the word “or”;

in subparagraph (6)(b)(iii), by substituting for the full stop the words “; or”;

by inserting after subparagraph (6)(b)(iii) the following subparagraph:

“(iv) be represented by any other person except an advocate and solicitor, duly authorized by the workman in writing and subject to the permission of the Director General.”;

by inserting after subsection 20(6) the following subsection:

“(6a)  In any proceeding under this section, where a workman being under a mental disability and not having a guardian ad litem, a next-of-kin of the workman may apply to the High Court for an order to appoint a guardian ad litem for the workman.”; and

in subsection (7), by deleting the words “, adviser, consultant or by any other person whatsoever”.

Amendment of section 21

in paragraph (1)(a), by deleting the word “and”; and

by inserting after paragraph (1)(a) the following paragraph:

“(aa) a Deputy President who shall be appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong; and”.

by renumbering the existing section as subsection (1); and

by inserting after subsection (1) as renumbered the following subsection:

“(2)  Notwithstanding subsection (1), a qualified person as defined in the Legal Profession Act 1976

[Act 166] or any laws replacing it, with at least fifteen years of experience in labour and industrial relations in the ministry charged with the responsibility for human resources may be considered for appointment as a Chairman under subsection 23(2).”.

by substituting for the full stop at the end of the proviso a colon; and

by inserting after the proviso, the following proviso:

“Provided further that where the trade dispute relates to a refusal to commence collective bargaining or a deadlock in collective bargaining, reference to the Court shall not be made without the consent in writing of the parties unless—

the trade dispute relates to the first collective agreement;

the trade dispute refers to any essential services specified in the First Schedule;

the trade dispute would result in acute crisis if not resolved expeditiously; or

the parties to the trade dispute are not acting in good faith to resolve the trade dispute expeditiously.”.

Amendment of section 29

by inserting after paragraph (d) the following paragraph:

“(da) hear and determine the matter before it notwithstanding the fact that the date of dismissal stated in the Director General’s reference under subsection 20(3) is—

disputed by any party to the proceedings;

or

by inserting after paragraph (e) the following paragraph:

“(ea) continue to conduct its proceedings notwithstanding the death of the workman who made the representations under subsection 20(1);”.

Amendment of section 30

by inserting after subsection (1) the following subsection:

“(1a)  An award made under subsection (1) for the payment of money shall carry interest at the rate of eight per centum per annum, or such lesser rate as

Industrial Relations (Amendment)

13

the Court may direct, the interest to be calculated commencing on the thirty-first day from the date of the making of the award until the day the award is satisfied;

Provided that the Court, on an application made by the aggrieved party within thirty days from the date of the making of the award, is satisfied that special circumstances exist, may determine any other date from which the interest is to be calculated.”;

in subsection (6a), by substituting for the full stop at the end of the sentence a colon;

by inserting after subsection (6a) the following proviso:

“Provided that this subsection is not applicable to a dismissal that relates to section 4, 5 or 7 of this

Act.”;

by inserting after subsection (6a) the following subsection:

“(6b)  Notwithstanding subsection (6), the Court, in making an award in relation to a reference under subsection 20(3) in respect of a deceased workman, shall have the power to award backwages or compensation in lieu of reinstatement or both to the next-of-kin of the deceased workman.”; and

in subsection (7)—

by substituting for the colon a full stop; and

in paragraph (c), by deleting the word “and” appearing at the end of the paragraph;

in paragraph (d), by substituting for the full stop the words “; and”; and

by inserting after paragraph (d) the following paragraph:

“(e) the next-of-kin of the deceased workman in relation to a reference under subsection 20(3).”.

by substituting for the shoulder note the following shoulder note:

“Stay of proceedings”

by deleting subsection (1); and

in subsection (2), by substituting for the words “Subject to section 33a, no” the word “No”.

The procedure in an appeal to the High Court shall be the procedure in the Rules of Court 2012 [P.U. (A) 205/2012]

for an appeal from a Sessions Court with such modifications as the circumstances may require.

In dealing with such appeals, the High Court shall have like powers as if the appeal is from the Sessions Court.”.

Amendment of section 40

by deleting the words “imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to”;

by substituting for the word “one” the word “five”; and

by deleting the words “or to both”.

in subsection (1)—

by deleting the words “imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to”;

in subsection (2)—

by deleting the words “imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to”;

in subsection (3)—

by substituting for the word “two” the word

“fifty”; and

by inserting after subsection (3) the following subsection:

“(3a)  Where any person has been convicted of an offence under subsection (3), the court before which he was convicted may order the person to make any payment due to the workman by virtue of an order made under section 30.”.

Amendment of section 60

in paragraph (a), by inserting after the word “Act” the words “and any regulations made under this Act”; and

by substituting for the word “five” the word “fifty”.

Amendment of section 62

in paragraph (fa), by deleting the word “and”; and

by inserting after paragraph (fa) the following paragraph:

“(fb) provide for the procedures relating to the process of determining the sole bargaining rights; and”.

All rules and regulations, forms, directions and letter of authorizations made, issued or granted under the principal Act shall, to the extent that the rules and regulations, forms, directions and letter of authorizations are consistent with the principal Act as amended by this Act, continue to be in force until such rules and regulations, forms, directions and letter of authorizations are revoked or amended.

Any investigation, trial or proceedings done, taken or commenced under the principal Act immediately before the coming into operation of this Act, shall be dealt with as if the principal

Act had not been amended by this Act.

KUALA LUMPUR