THE ELEMENTS OF A GENUINE FIXED-TERM CONTRACT: A REVIEW ON MALAYSIAN LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Fixed-term employment generally may be referred as an employment contract in which an organization hire an employee for a specific time period. The primary objective in offering a fixed-term employment contract is because the employer does not have to commit to the permanent employment of the incoming employee. There is no issue of unfair dismissal arises in the principle of fixed-term contract. The Court will determine whether the employment contract in dispute is in fact a genuine fixed-term contract or a permanent contract disguised as fixed-term instead. The employer is not obliged to renew the contract after its expiry and no reasons need be given for non-renewal once it was established that the employment contract is a genuine fixed-term employment. Furthermore, aside from various meaning of genuine fixed-term contract defined in Malaysian cases, it not may not always be successful to protect the employee. Thus, this paper focuses on the issue of the employees’ rights and protection recruited under fixed-term contract in Malaysia by referring to the previous cases.