0 INTRODUCTION
Labor laws are introduced gradually. Labor and labor relations are
governed by labor laws, although they are still free to enter into contracts and
agree on certain terms. Every term of their service must not be against the
law. The law has guaranteed things like wages, hours, holidays and so on.
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between employers, workers and trade unions within the scope of
employment (Malaysia Employment Law & Industrial Relations, 1996). This
definition coincides with what Yong (1996) says that industrial relations are
related to setting agreed systems and regulations within the working
environment. That means, in industrial relations, both employers and
employees have the same legal and equal rights to protect what they feel as
important for them to protect. In the context of this discussion, industrial
relations will lead to relationships between employers and trade unions.
Here we will examine how the forces of globalization and labor laws affect
industrial relations within a chosen organization and ways to overcome the
barriers caused by the forces of globlization and labor laws within the
organization.
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2.0 THE ORGANIZATION
Yummy Food Sdn. Bhd. was opened in Kota Kinabalu in 1995. This is the
one of fast food restaurant in Kota Kinabalu and it’s grown into the largest
restaurant organization in Kota Kinabalu. This restaurant was one of
successful Bumiputera restaurant.
The mission is "We aim to be the leader in the Quick Service Restaurant
(QSR) industry by maximising Profits and through our Principles of QSC & V
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(Quality, Service, Cleanliness & Value) consistent with the needs of our
Customers, Employees and Community." The vision is “To be our customers'
favourite place and way to eat”.
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3.0 GLOBALIZATION FORCES
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globalization has its own dimension in which it encompasses aspects of
economy, politics, culture, socialization and ideology.
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3.2 Economic downturn
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The opening of economic and market gates enabled economic
monopolies to occur in a country. This situation often applies to developed
countries on developing countries as well as to new industry-based
organizations. The emerging economic wealth will be exited by foreign
investors. Once developed countries are rushing out of the emerging
economies then they will also exploit local labor with low wage rates. Thus
the situation is called the colonization of the developed economies of the
developing countries.
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4.0 LABOUR LEGISLATION FORCES
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not. However, the further description of the service contract is not that
easy. Various terms, terms, tasks and responsibilities in the contractual
relationship between employer and employee make the service contract
so complex.
4.3 Wages
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to any matter relating to wages, it is usually the employer and employee
will comply with the agreement.
The Employment Act does not set a minimum wage amount. It only
provides definitions, payment methods, deductions, trucks and wage
preferences only. The Employment Act only specifies the minimum
requirements that an employer has to adhere to. This means the employer
is free to set other terms in the service contract. Provided that such
conditions do not violate the provisions of the Act, and benefit the
employees.
One of the main reasons employees joined the trade union was due to
dissatisfaction with management. Usually this dissatisfaction issue is due
to the unreasonable salary payment, no security at work, and also the
unhealthy management attitude towards the employee. Workers want a
paycheck that is commensurate with the work done. For example, if they
are doing a lot of work at a certain time, they want more rewards and suit
the burden of the task.
Safety at work is also very important for workers. For example, if they
work at a construction site, personal protective equipment should be
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provided to prevent accidents and injuries during work. Certain
compensation should also be provided by the employer to them and their
families in the event of an undesirable accident at the workplace.
5.0 SUGGESTIONS
Technology
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creation of new business and also joint ventures. All these interactions
had been done to increased the number of subsidiaries of the
multinational corporations and have created new strategic alliances.
Economy
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in 1997, this will led to a decrease in the export purchasing power, and
also will reduced the quantity of imports into Malaysia.
National Security
Wages
Malaysian workers endured a reduction in real wages during the
recent economic crisis. While inflation and the cost of living generally
increased, workers faced pay cuts and wage freezes. YAB rightly pointed
out during our meeting with your good self on August 6th 1998 that a
reduction of wages will result in a decrease in domestic demand and a
detriment to full economic recovery. We therefore call on the government
to pursue a wage policy that increases domestic demand and rewards
workers, especially those in the lower income group. This includes:
Revising the salary of civil servants every 3 years, in line with the
private sector.
Supporting a monthly wage scheme in the plantation sector.
Calling on employers not to deny or delay collective bargaining
negotiations.
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Implementing the Prime Minister’s pledge of introducing a
minimum wage of RM 1,200 for all workers in Malaysia.
While noting the recent pay revisions of five corporatized government
agencies that were outstanding since 1995, MTUC calls for the setting up
of a proper bipartite regulatory mechanism with the mandate to discuss
and decide on labour matters in the corporatized agencies. Proper
negotiating machinery must be set up to implement salary revision every
three years.
Social Security
The Economic crisis has clearly shown the need to correct, upgrade
and broaden the scope of the Malaysian social security system. There are
few areas of critical concern.
The social security system should be broadened to include security
against loss of employment. Workers who loss their employment due to
redundancy or company bankruptcy should be guaranteed retrenchment
benefits. Such a scheme would be comparable to Danaharta’s role in
relieving banks of NPLs. To this end, MTUC has proposed the National
Retrenchment Fund be implemented. We urge the government to hasten
the implementation of such a scheme.
The government should also introduce regulations on Voluntary
Separation Schemes introduced by the private sector as a response to
redundancy and restructuring. Some companies have forced employees
to accept voluntary redundancy by issuing notices that if such schemes
are not taken up, the company will be forced to introduce compulsory
retrenchment with lower benefits. Such "forced" separation schemes
should not be allowed.
In order to protect workers retirement savings held in the Employees’
Provident Fund, the government should amend the EPF Act to make the
institutions responsible to its members. This includes ensuring the
Investment Board is accountable to the Board of Directors, the Board of
Directors should be accountable to members and separating the position
of Executive Director from the Chairman of the Board. Through such
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measures, the EPF will operate with greater transparency and
accountability. In particular, the EPF should not be used to provide huge
loans to the private sector at below market rates, which in the long run will
negatively affect the returns to members. Government is urged to take
note of the significant improvement in the life expectancy age of average
Malaysians and rise the retirement age to 60 years for workers in the
public and private sector. This would also help eliminate our dependency
on foreign labour.
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towards solidarity and individualism on the part of workers, and the
influence of privatization have had general implications on the aggregate
pattern of unionization across countries. These environmental changes
have caused firms to reshape management strategies that emphasize on
core competences and knowledge work and to expand by contracting out
parts of their businesses through a wide network of corporate alliances
(Heckscher, 2001).
Trade unions have long served an important and vital role in the
industry, acting as the vanguard to protect the worker’s rights and financial
livelihood, along with their health and safety (Waddington & Whitston,
1997; Salamon, 2000). However, due to the changing environmental
factors surrounding unions, these roles are changing to a broader
spectrum from time to time.
Bonus
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A provision relating to the bonus is not specified in the contract of
employment. This is because the bonus is the right employer. Employers
have the right to include a provision on this matter, or otherwise. However,
many awards were given in relation to the bonus question. According to
the Oxford Dictionary, the bonus is defined as "a reward to employees
other than salary." In other words, not a duty upon employers to provide
bonuses to its employees, but it can be given as an incentive for services
rendered by employees. Most of the questions raised in the court was
whether the bonus must be provided or otherwise.
6.0 CONCLUSION
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Industry and employee relations are an important area for every manager,
especially human resource managers. This is because the field is related to
the relationship between the employer and the worker in the workplace.
Therefore, to study it it requires understanding of the concept of industrial
relations. Industrial relations are particularly difficult as they involve
employees and trade unions represented by such workers. In this chapter the
discussion has touched on important aspects such as participation in trade
unions as well as a collective bargaining process by representatives from both
employers and workers.
In conclusion the act and the law provided for the purpose of protecting
the employees of the organization. Negara Malaysia have the deed and the
law of its own but based on much the same basis as the number of hours
worked, wages, holidays, maternity leave and other. Availability in hiring can
be done by creating a work for hire workers either orally or in writing. Service
contract may exist when an individual who is employed and paid a salary. The
existence of employer-employee relationship occurs when both parties have
complied with the terms and conditions agreed upon.
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REFERENCES
Akta Kerja 1955 (Akta 265) & peraturan-peraturan dan perintah: hingga 5hb April
2001.(2001). Kuala Lumpur: International Law Book Services :.
Akta Perhubungan Perusahaan 1967 (Akta 177): hingga 15th November 2008.
(2008). Kuala Lumpur: International Law Book Services.
ILO (2000), World Labour Report 2000: Income security and social protection in
a changing world, International Labour Office, Geneva.
Kamal Halili Hassan, Ahmad Kamal (Nik.), Mumtaj Hassan. (2007). Siri
perkembangan undang-undang di Malaysia: Undang-undang pekerjaan. Kuala
Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka.
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Mohmad bin Yazam Sharif. (2001). Asas Pengurusan Sumber Manusia:
Pendekatan Proses. Kuala Lumpur: Utusan Publications.
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