Coverage · 01
Dismissals & unfair termination
Defence of dismissals contested under s.20 IRA: misconduct, poor performance, retrenchment-as-dismissal. From show-cause through award.
Statute · s.20 IRA 1967
Practice · 01 of 04 · Industrial Relations & Tribunal Defence
When the NTSC letter lands, the next ninety days are already written.
Lead industrial-relations counsel for Malaysian employers. Conciliation, reference, and award, from the first dismissal notice through the Industrial Court of Malaysia. 240+ mandates carried since 1998.
Book a 30-minute consultation →
Download the Practice Brief (PDF)
Next partner slot · Fri 16 May · 10:30 MYT
§ 02 · The Promise
A short, declarative read of how this practice differs from a general HR advisory.
We do not write opinions. We carry mandates: through conciliation, through reference, and through award. We stay in the room until the Industrial Court has spoken. No counsel-handover at the courtroom door. No "we'll put you in touch with a litigator." A single partner, from first NTSC letter to enforcement.
§ 03 · The Coverage
The nine situations we are most often called into.
Each tile is a recurring class of matter, not a brochure heading. If your situation sits between two tiles, that is also us. The practice does not stop at the edge of a category.
Coverage · 02
Retrenchment & restructuring
LIFO frameworks, Code of Conduct compliance, voluntary separation schemes, mass-redundancy defence and DG-of-IR notifications.
Statute · Code of Conduct for Industrial Harmony
Coverage · 03
Constructive dismissal
Repudiation defence, demotion challenges, variation-of-contract claims, and the increasingly common digital-only-demotion matters post-2023.
Forum · Industrial Court
Coverage · 04
Union recognition & collective bargaining
Recognition claim defence, scope-of-bargaining disputes, in-house union strategy and collective-agreement negotiation under Part IV IRA.
Statute · Part IV IRA 1967
Coverage · 05
Trade disputes
Workmen-vs-employer trade disputes referred to the Industrial Court under s.26(2), including industry-wide and multi-union matters.
Statute · s.26(2) IRA 1967
Coverage · 06
DG of IR conciliation
Pre-reference conciliation strategy, written submissions, witness preparation and the difficult judgement of when to settle and when to refer.
Body · JTKSM · DGIR
Coverage · 07
Sexual harassment & misconduct inquiries
Domestic-inquiry chairmanship, evidence framework, panel training, and the s.81B parallel-track architecture post the 2022 amendments.
Statute · s.81B IRA 1967
Coverage · 08
Industrial Court mandates
Lead counsel from reference through award. Pleadings, witness brief, cross-examination, written submissions and award-stage appeals.
Forum · Industrial Court
Coverage · 09
Judicial review & award challenges
High Court judicial review of awards, certiorari and mandamus applications, and the increasingly procedural battles over leave to apply.
Forum · High Court of Malaya
Four stages, one partner.
§ 04 · How the practice runs
01
The first call
A 30-minute partner conversation, on the record from the first sentence. We will give you our honest read of where you stand, including whether you have a defensible position or whether the right move is to settle.
Duration · 30 min
By · Partner
By · Partner
02
Conciliation
Pre-reference strategy. Written submissions to the DG of IR, witness preparation, parallel-track domestic inquiry if appropriate. The decisive moment for whether the matter ever reaches the Industrial Court.
Typical window · 4-8 weeks
Settled here · ~91%
Settled here · ~91%
03
Reference & mandate
If conciliation fails, lead counsel through the full Industrial Court mandate. Pleadings, witness brief, cross-examination, written submissions. Same partner; no handover.
Typical window · 6-14 months
Forum · Industrial Court
Forum · Industrial Court
04
Award & aftermath
Award delivery, enforcement, post-award appeals or judicial review, and (most importantly) the structured debrief that translates the award into policy changes upstream of the next matter.
Includes · Policy debrief
Optional · Judicial review
Optional · Judicial review
§ 05 · The Figures
Four numbers we are willing to be read against.
These are practice-level, not firm-level. Industrial Relations & Tribunal Defence only.
Lifetime mandates
240+
Conciliation through award, 1997 to present.
Settled pre-Court
91%
5-year rolling average; 2020 to 2024.
Avg. duration
11mo
First call to award or settled withdrawal.
Partners on call
3
Sharifah Z. · Datuk A.R. · Lee K.M.
Case in record · National utility · 2023-2024
§ 06 · Anonymised on client request
Case in record · 2024
168 disputed dismissals. 14 months. 96% closed pre-Court.
In late 2023 a Bursa-listed national utility faced 168 contested dismissals arising from a single restructuring exercise. Maslow was retained as lead industrial-relations counsel across conciliation, reference and award stages.
The engagement closed in 14 months. 162 of 168 references were settled without reference to the Industrial Court. The remaining six were carried to award. Four resulted in dismissal upheld, two in reinstatement with reduced backwages. Quantum saved was indicatively RM 38 million against the benchmark of award-stage exposure.
"They walked into every conciliation already three moves ahead. By the end of the year we were briefing them on industries we didn't even operate in."
- Chief People Officer · National Utility · 2024
Disputes
168
Across two business units in a single restructuring window.
Pre-Court
96%
162 of 168 closed at conciliation or reference stage.
Duration
14mo
From NTSC letters issued to final award delivered.
Quantum saved
RM 38m
Indicative against benchmark of award-stage exposure.
The three partners you may meet on this practice.
§ 07 · Senior counsel · 240+ mandates between them
Sharifah Z.
Partner · Industrial Relations
Practising since 2002 · 23 years
Lead counsel on the National Utility matter (2023). Specialises in retrenchment defence and complex multi-claimant references.
Datuk A. R.
Founding Partner
Practising since 1991 · 34 years
Founder of the practice. Lead on union recognition and Part IV matters. Retained by GLCs and Bursa-listed boards since 1998.
Lee K. M.
Partner · Compliance & IR
Practising since 2006 · 19 years
Cross-practice partner. Runs both the Compliance and the IR-defence matters where statutory audit findings flow into a dismissal reference.
§ 08 · Frequently Asked
Six questions HR Directors actually ask on the first call.
Written for the question typed into Google at 7:45am, and marked up as FAQPage JSON-LD for the answer engine on every other day.
Q · 01
A former employee filed a section 20 IRA complaint against us. What happens next, and what is the realistic timeline?
＋
The complaint is referred to the Director General of Industrial Relations for conciliation, typically within 30 days. Conciliation runs for 4-8 weeks; the DG then decides whether to refer the matter to the Industrial Court. Roughly 91% of our matters settle at the conciliation stage. Of those that reach the Court, the average award is delivered 6-14 months after reference. The single most important window is the first 21 days. What you write to the DG in that period shapes the rest of the case.
// Source: s.20 IRA 1967 · Maslow 5-year rolling average · last reviewed May 2026
Q · 02
Can Maslow act as lead counsel before the Industrial Court of Malaysia, or are you advisors only?
＋
Lead counsel. We carry the mandate from the first NTSC letter through award. There is no counsel-handover at the courtroom door; the partner you meet on the first call is the partner who cross-examines at trial. Industrial Court mandates carried to completion: 240+ since 1998.
Q · 03
We're considering a retrenchment. What is the difference between a "lawful" retrenchment and a dismissal disguised as one?
＋
A retrenchment is lawful when (a) there is a genuine redundancy of the position, (b) selection follows the Code of Conduct for Industrial Harmony (typically LIFO within the affected class), and (c) the statutory notice and benefits under the Employment (Termination & Lay-Off Benefits) Regulations 1980 are honoured. The most common failure mode in 2025 is informal "voluntary" exits that are later reframed as dismissals. The Industrial Court reads through that framing. We will walk you through the LIFO selection on the first call.
// Source: Code of Conduct for Industrial Harmony · ETLBR 1980 · Maslow practice notes
Q · 04
An employee has resigned but is now claiming constructive dismissal. Is this a real risk or a negotiating tactic?
＋
Both, often. Constructive dismissal turns on whether the employer's conduct was a repudiatory breach of the employment contract: demotion, unilateral pay cut, untenable working conditions. The threshold is high, but Malaysian Industrial Courts have shown willingness to find constructive dismissal in 2023-2025 patterns around digital-only demotions (role removal without title change). If the resignation letter mentions any specific incident, treat it as a constructive-dismissal threat and call us before responding in writing.
Q · 05
What does engaging Maslow on a single matter typically cost, and is there a retainer option?
＋
Two models. Matter fee: fixed at scoping, broken into conciliation / reference / award stages, paid as each stage closes. Annual IR retainer: a flat quarterly fee covering an agreed volume of matters plus unlimited partner conversations; used by clients with 1,500+ headcount or recurring restructuring exposure. We will give you indicative ranges on the first call; we do not publish rate cards because matters vary too widely. The first conversation itself is free.
Q · 06
Are you registered with HRD Corp, and is any of this work HRD-Corp-claimable?
＋
Maslow has been an HRD Corp-registered provider since 2003. Live mandate work is not HRD-Corp-claimable, but our IR upskilling programmes (Industrial Court Survival Skills for HR Leaders, Conducting Domestic Inquiries, EA 1955 & IRA 1967 for HR Business Partners) are fully claimable under SBL Khas. HRD Corp registration №: 10001234.
// Source: hrdcorp.gov.my · Provider Search · last verified 12 May 2026Adjacent practices.
§ 09 · You may also need
Practice · 02
Statutory compliance & audit readiness
EA 1955 gap analysis, statutory audit defence, contract architecture, and policy frameworks aligned to the latest DG circulars.
Open practice →Practice · 03
Leadership & organisational development
Executive coaching, succession architecture, and culture engagements. HRD-Corp-claimable since 2003.
Open practice →Practice · 04
HR transformation & intelligence systems
Operating-model redesign, workforce analytics and the Maslow HCI intelligence layer over your existing HRIS stack.
Open practice →If the NTSC letter has already landed,
the next call is the one that matters.
The first conversation is always free, always with a partner, and always on the record from the first sentence. We will give you our honest read of where you stand, whether or not we're the right fit.
3 partner slots open this week: Shah Alam, KL, virtual