Employment Act · 2026 Revised Edition · Part · Inspection
120. Powers of Commissioner and authorised officers during inspection
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
In the course of an inspection or enquiry, the Commissioner or any authorised officer may —
Commissioner
“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Labour appointed under section 3(1);
examine orally any person whom he believes to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the employment of any person or any matter within the provisions of this Act, and to reduce into writing the answer given or statement made by that person; and such person shall be bound to answer truthfully all questions put to him; and the statement made by that person shall be read over to him, in the language in which he made it and, after correction, be signed by him or affixed with his thumb print, as the case may be;
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require the employer to —
produce before him all or any of the employees employed by him together with any contracts of service, books of account of salary, registers and other documents concerning the employees or their employment;
answer such questions relating thereto as he may think proper to ask;
examine notices and all documents which are required to be kept under the provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder;
make copies of, or make extracts from, the contract of service, books of account of salary, registers or other documents required to be produced under paragraph (b);
take or remove for purposes of analysis samples of materials and substances used or handled by employees, except that the employer or his representative shall be notified of any such samples of materials or substances taken or removed for this purpose;
take possession of the contracts of service, books of account of salary, registers and other documents relating to the employees or their employment where in his opinion —
the inspection, copying or the making of extracts from the contract of service, books of account of salary, registers or other documents cannot reasonably be undertaken without taking possession of them;
the contracts of service, book of account of salary, registers or other documents may be interfered with or destroyed unless he takes possession of them; or
the contracts of service, books of account of salary, registers or other documents may be needed as evidence in any legal proceedings under this Act;
Employment
take or remove for the purposes of an enquiry any other document concerning the employees or their employment.
No answer which a person is legally bound to give under subsection (1)(a) shall be proved against him in any criminal proceeding, except on a prosecution for giving false evidence by that answer.
Notwithstanding subsection (1)(b), no employee shall be required to leave or to cease from performing any work on which he is engaged if his absence or cessation from such work would endanger life or property or seriously disrupt any operation being carried on by his employer.
employee
“employee” means a person who has entered into or who works under a contract of service with an employer, and includes a workman and any public officer or employee of the Government included in a category, class or description of such officers or employees declared by the Minister, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, to be employees for the purposes of this Act or any Part thereof; but does not include any seaman, domestic worker or any person employed in a managerial, executive or confidential position or any person belonging to any other class of person whom the Minister, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, may by notification published in the Gazette, declare not to be employees for the purposes of this Act;
For the purpose of this section, the Commissioner and an authorised officer shall have the same powers of investigation as a police officer under Chapter XIII of the Criminal Procedure Code (Chapter 7).
authorised officer
“authorised officer” means any person appointed as such under section 5;
Terms defined in s 2
authorised officer
Defined · s 2“authorised officer” means any person appointed as such under section 5;
Commissioner
Defined · s 2“Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Labour appointed under section 3(1);
contract of service
Defined · s 2“contract of service” means, subject to section 10, any agreement, whether in writing or oral and whether express or implied, whereby one person agrees to employ another as an employee and that other agrees to serve him as an employee, and includes a contract of apprenticeship;
employee
Defined · s 2“employee” means a person who has entered into or who works under a contract of service with an employer, and includes a workman and any public officer or employee of the Government included in a category, class or description of such officers or employees declared by the Minister, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, to be employees for the purposes of this Act or any Part thereof; but does not include any seaman, domestic worker or any person employed in a managerial, executive or confidential position or any person belonging to any other class of person whom the Minister, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, may by notification published in the Gazette, declare not to be employees for the purposes of this Act;
employer
Defined · s 2“employer” means any person who employs another person under a contract of service and includes — (a) the Government, in respect of such categories, classes or descriptions of public officers or employees of the Government as are declared by the Minister, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan, to be employees for the purposes of this Act; (b) any statutory body; (c) the duly authorised agent or manager of the employer; (d) the person who owns or is carrying on or for the time being responsible for the management of the profession, business, trade or work in which the employee is engaged;
salary
Defined · s 2“salary” means all remuneration including allowances payable to an employee in respect of work done under his contract of service, but does not include — (a) the value of any accommodation or the supply of any food, fuel, electricity, water or medical attendance, or of any amenity or service excluded by order of the Minister published in the Gazette; (b) any contribution paid by the employer on his own account to any pension fund or provident fund; (c) any travelling allowance or the value of any travelling concession; (d) any sum paid to the employee to reimburse him for special expenses incurred by him in the course of his employment; (e) any gratuity payable on discharge or retirement; and (f) any retrenchment benefit payable on retrenchment;