Employment Act · 2026 Revised Edition · Part · Employment of Women
99. Right to benefit unaffected by notice of dismissal in specified circumstances
In plain English
Not legal advice
Dismissal without sufficient cause within 3 months before a female employee's confinement does not cancel her payment rights. Disputes go to the minister within 2 months from her confinement. If sufficient cause was lacking, the minister may order reinstatement with lost salary, or compensation. Failing to comply risks a fine up to $5,000, prison up to one year, or both.
Summary · Drafted with AI, checked against the official text on 30 Sep 2026.
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
No notice of dismissal given without sufficient cause by an employer to a female employee within a period of 3 months before her confinement shall have the effect of depriving her of any payment to which —
employer
“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;
but for that notice, she would have been entitled; or
she would, on or before the date of her confinement, have become entitled to, under this Part.
If any question arises as to whether any notice of dismissal given under subsection (1) was or was not given for sufficient cause, it shall be referred to the Minister within 2 months from the date of the employee’s confinement.
Where the Minister is satisfied that the employee has been dismissed without sufficient cause, he may, notwithstanding any rule of law or agreement to the contrary —
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;
Employment
direct the employer to reinstate the employee in her former employment and pay the employee an amount equal to the salary that she would have earned had she not been dismissed; or
direct the employer to pay such amount of salary as compensation as the Minister may consider just and equitable having regard to all the circumstances of the case, and the employer shall comply with the direction of the Minister.
The decision of the Minister under subsection (3) is final.
Any direction of the Minister under subsection (3) shall operate as a bar to any action for damages by the employee in any court in respect of the dismissal without sufficient cause under subsection (1).
An employer who fails to comply with a direction of the
Minister under subsection (3) is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or both.
Where any amount to be paid by an employer under subsection (3) is not paid in accordance with the direction of the Minister and the employer has been convicted of an offence under subsection (6), the amount or so much thereof as remains unpaid shall be recoverable by the court as if it were a fine and the amount so recoverable shall be paid to the employee entitled to payment under the direction of the Minister.
Terms defined in s 2
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;
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