- Title
- Labour law and the labour market: a case study of Malaysia
- Creator
- Sale, Jonathan
- Relation
- New Zealand Journal of Employment Relations Vol. 43, Issue 3, p. 55-74
- Relation
- http://www.nzjournal.org/past_issues.htm
- Publisher
- ER Publishing
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2018
- Description
- According to the International Labour Organization (ILO): “…global economic integration has caused many countries and sectors to face major challenges of…continuing high levels of unemployment and poverty…and the growth of both unprotected work and the informal economy…” But the level of unemployment and size of informal sectors vary across countries over time. For instance, the unemployment rate is around three per cent and non-agricultural employment in the informal sector is about 11 per cent in Malaysia. On the other hand, the unemployment rate is close to six per cent while the “informal sector employs between 61% and 70% of the total labour force” in neighbouring Indonesia. By and large, labour laws developed in “both the common and civilian law systems” in the twentieth century. In the case of Malaysia, might the outcomes described in the preceding paragraph, among others, be explained through the ways its labour law and regulation have been framed and/or revised over time? Generally, is there a close relationship between the country’s labour law and economy or variety of capitalism? Specifically, does its labour law contribute to labour market formation, including relatively low levels of unemployment overall, and employment in the informal sector in particular? Owing to its pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial histories, might the ways by which Malaysia’s labour law and regulation have been framed and/or revised show legal pluralism, exogenous (e.g., common law and civil law) and endogenous (e.g., “ethnic distribution”) origins? This paper aims to provide some plausible answers to these questions through systems analysis and case study of labour law and regulation in Malaysia and their links to the economy, including the variety or varieties of capitalism, labour market formation and outcomes. The paper is divided into six parts. The first section reviews some relevant literature and develops a systems framework for the case study. In the second section, the history and development of Malaysian labour law is briefly traced and some key provisions of the Employment Act are discussed. From this historical account, the third section teases out aspects of the context and political economy of the country’s labour law. The fourth section delves into varieties of capitalism. Outcomes in terms of employment and gross domestic product are tackled in the fifth section. In the last section, the paper concludes with an examination of the links among labour law and regulation, varieties of capitalism, labour market formation, and work creation, as well as some implications and challenges.
- Subject
- labour law; labour market; case study; Malaysia
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1404571
- Identifier
- uon:35363
- Identifier
- ISSN:1176-4716
- Language
- eng
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