Most Industrial Court cases last year involved terminations, says HR Minister

PUTRAJAYA: Most of the 1,822 cases received by the Industrial Court last year were over dismissals, says Human Resources Minister Steven Sim.

He said job termination cases made up 1,474 of the total, with non-compliance of awards and collective agreements coming in second with 295 cases.

There were 33 cases involving industrial disputes last year, he added.

In total, the Industrial Court managed 5,463 cases last year and resolved 2,376, he said here on Wednesday (Feb 28) after launching the Legislation Reform and Industrial Court Management Colloquium.

He said the conference brings together industrial relations stakeholders and law practitioners to discuss improvements to the Industrial Court in Malaysia.

“Reform is a continuous process and we will implement improvements on various aspects which include processes and infrastructure.

“Last week, we announced that court chairmen’s tenure would be extended from two to four years,” he added.

Sim said this extension would help expedite case management.

Sim said there are three main focuses for reforms of the system: shortening case processing times, reducing case backlogs, and upgrading facilities.

He also said the Industrial Court is in the process of digitalising its systems and increasing the number of interpreters.

“We are also working with the Institute for Labour Market Information and Analysis to begin a study on case management.

“Today’s event marks the first time we have experts and industrial law practitioners to advise what is next for the court,” he added.

Also present at Wednesday’s launch were Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran, Human Resources Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud and Industrial Courts president Datuk Wan Jeffry Kassim.