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Forced labour is prohibited by the 1957 The Employment Act 1955, Sarawak
Malaysian Federal Constitution and Labour Ordinance (Cap 76) or Sabah
Penal Code. Labour Ordinance (Cap 67) do not
currently deal with forced labour but
rather individual indicators of forced
labour such as contract substitution,
Article 6 of the Federal Constitution excessive overtime, withholding of
states that no persons shall be held wages, abusive working and living
in slavery and all forms of forced National Action Plan on Forced Labour (2021-2025)
labour are prohibited with the conditions.
exception of compulsory national
service and work or service carried
3.1. National Legal Framework out by persons as a consequence of
a court conviction.
These Act and Ordinances
also protect workers right to
Malaysia has existing domestic legislation The term ‘no persons’ indicates the
relevant to forced labour : inclusion of all persons, i.e. citizens and organise and it should be
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non-citizens, including refugees, asylum- noted that “employers” are
seekers, stateless persons, migrant interpreted broadly to also
workers, documented or otherwise.
cover, for example,
� Federal Constitution of � National Wages Consultative
Malaysia Council Act 2011 recruitment agencies that
provide labour to multiple
� Penal Code � Employees’ Minimum Standards of
Housing, Accommodations and Section 374 of the Penal Code states enterprises.
� Employment Act 1955
Amenities Act 1990 that “whoever unlawfully compels
� Anti-Trafficking in Persons and any person to labour against the will
Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act � Occupational Safety and Health Act of that person, shall be punished The Employment Act, pursuant to
1994
2007 with imprisonment for a term which amendments made in 2012 in Act A1419
� Industrial Relations Act 1967 may extend to one year or with fine
� Immigration Act 1959/63 or with both.” included new terms for interpretation
� Trade Unions Act 1959 under Section 2 amongst them is the
� Passports Act 1966 � The Contracts Act 1950 In the Penal Code, Section 370 is on “contractor for labour” which means a
National Action Plan on Forced Labour (2021-2025) � Private Employment Agencies � Sabah Labour Ordinance (Sabah slave”, Section 371 deals with “habitual the whole or any part of any work which
person who contracts with a principal,
� Employment Restriction Act
contractor or sub-contractor to supply
� Sarawak Labour Ordinance
1966
the labour required for the execution of
(Sarawak Cap 76)
“buying or disposing of any person as a
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(Amendment) Act 2017
a contractor or sub-contractor has
dealing in slaves” and Section 374 is on
Cap 67)
contracted to carry out for a principal or
“unlawful compulsory labour”. All these
� Workmen’s Compensation Act
contractor, as the case may be. There is a
1952
� Children and Young Persons (Em‐
Sections refer to ‘any person’ and not
need to relook at issues on contractor
‘citizen’. However, the penalties should
ployment Act 1966
for labour on matters pertaining to
be reviewed to be in line with Malaysia’s
forced labour.
obligation pursuant to ILO Convention
6 This list is derived from the ILO 2018 Situation and Gap Analysis on Malaysian Legislation, Policies, and Programmes
and the ILO Forced Labour Convention and Protocol’ which can be found on https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/-
--asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/genericdocument/wcms_650658.pdf. The remaining contents of this section is an
abridged and updated version of the analysis of the legal framework in the background study for the NAPFL. 29.
7 The Sarawak Labour Ordinance does not explicitly mention forced labour but it does include a number of relevant
provisions to violations that could aggravate into forced labour.