1 PART I PRELIMINARY-1. Short title and commencement

(1) This Act may be cited as the Minimum Retirement Age Act 2012 .

(2) This Act comes into operation on a date to be appointed by the Minister by notification in the Gazette and the Minister may appoint different dates for the coming into operation of different provisions of this Act.

2 PART I PRELIMINARY-2. Non-application

(1) This Act does not apply to the person specified in the Schedule.

(2) The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette , amend the Schedule.

3 PART I PRELIMINARY-3. Interpretation

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-

  "prescribe"  means prescribed by regulations;

  "Director General"  means-

(a) in respect of Peninsular Malaysia, the Director General of Labour appointed under subsection 3(1) of the Employment Act 1955 [Act 265] ;

(b) in respect of Sabah, the Director of Labour appointed under subsection 3(1) of the Sabah Labour Ordinance [Sabah Cap 67] ; and

(c) in respect of Sarawak, the Director of Labour appointed under subsection 3(1) of the Sarawak Labour Ordinance [Sarawak Cap 76] ;

  "contract of service"  means any agreement, whether oral or in writing, and whether express or implied, whereby one person agrees to employ another person as an employee and that per

4 PART II MINIMUM RETIREMENT AGE-4. Minimum retirement age

(1) Notwithstanding any other written law, the minimum retirement age of an employee shall be upon the employee attaining the age of sixty years.

(2) The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette , prescribe a minimum retirement age higher than the minimum retirement age provided under subsection (1).

(3) When the Minister prescribes a higher minimum retirement age under subsection (2), the prescribed minimum retirement age shall supersede the minimum retirement age provided under subsection (1).

5 PART II MINIMUM RETIREMENT AGE-5. Premature retirement

(1) An employer shall not prematurely retire an employee before the employee attains the minimum retirement age.

(2) An employer who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit.

(3) A premature retirement shall not include an optional retirement under section 6 and a termination of a contract of service for any reason other than on the ground of age.

6 PART II MINIMUM RETIREMENT AGE-6. Optional retirement

Notwithstanding the minimum retirement age, an employee may retire upon attaining the age of optional retirement as agreed in the contract of service or collective agreement.

7 PART II MINIMUM RETIREMENT AGE-7. Invalidity of term of contract of service and collective agreement

(1) Any retirement age in a contract of service or collective agreement made before, on or after the date of coming into operation of this Act which is less than the minimum retirement age provided under this Act shall be deemed to be void and substituted with the minimum retirement age provided under this Act.

(2) Any term in a contract of service or collective agreement relating to retirement age shall be void if it excludes or limits the operation of any provision of this Act.

8 PART III COMPLAINTS AND INQUIRIES-8. Director General's power to inquire into complaints

(1) An employee who has been prematurely retired by his employer has, within sixty days from the date of the retirement, the option to complain in writing to the Director General.

(2) If an employee opts to make a complaint to the Director General under subsection (1), the employee shall not make a representation under section 20 of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 until his complaint to the Director General under this section has been resolved.

(3) If an employee has made a representation under section 20 of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 and also made a complaint under subsection (1), the Director General shall not conduct an inquiry on the complaint made by the employee.

(4) Subject to subsection (3), the Director General may conduct an inquiry, in the manner prescribed by the Minister, to determine whether there is prima facie evidence that an employee has been prematurely retired by his employer.

(5) Up

9 PART III COMPLAINTS AND INQUIRIES-9. Reference to High Court on question of law

(1) In any inquiry under subsection 8(4), the Director General may, if he thinks fit, refer any question of law for the decision of a Judge of the High Court and if the Director General does so he shall make his decision in the inquiry in conformity with the decision of the Judge of the High Court.

(2) An appeal on any decision of a Judge of the High Court under subsection (1) shall lie to the Court of Appeal.

10 PART III COMPLAINTS AND INQUIRIES-10. Appeal

(1) A person who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Director General under subsection 8(5) may appeal to the High Court.

(2) Subject to any rules made under section 4 of the Subordinate Court Rules Act 1955 [Act 55] , the procedure in an appeal to the High Court shall be the procedure in a civil appeal from a Sessions Court with such modifications as the circumstances may require.

11 PART III COMPLAINTS AND INQUIRIES-11. Non-compliance with direction of Director General

(1) An employer who fails to comply with the direction of the Director General under paragraph 8(5) (b) commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit.

(2) If an employer has been convicted of an offence under subsection (1), the court before which the employer has been convicted may order the employer to pay to the employee the amount directed by the Director General to be paid under paragraph 8(5) (b) .

(3) If an employer fails to comply with an order made under subsection (2), the court may, on the application of an employee, issue a warrant to levy the employer's property for the amount ordered to be paid under subsection (2) in the following manner:

(a) by way of distress and sale of the employer's property in accordance with the same procedure of execution under the Subordinate Courts Rules 1980 [P.U. (A) 328/1980] and this e

12 PART IV INVESTIGATION AND ENFORCEMENT-12. Powers of Director General

The Director General shall have all the powers-

(a) to investigate into any offence under this Act; and

(b) to enforce any provision of this Act.

13 PART IV INVESTIGATION AND ENFORCEMENT-13. Power to require attendance of persons acquainted with case

(1) The Director General in making an investigation under this Act may, by order in writing, require the attendance before himself of any person who appears to him to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case, and such person shall attend as so required.

(2) If any person refuses or fails to attend as so required, the Director General may report such refusal or failure to a Magistrate who shall issue a summons to secure the attendance of such person as may be required by the order made under subsection (1).

(3) The Director General may examine orally a person supposed to be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case under his investigation.

(4) A person shall be bound to answer all questions put to him relating to the case under investigation by the Director General but the person may refuse to answer any question which would have a tendency to expose him to a criminal charge or penalty or forfeitur

14 PART IV INVESTIGATION AND ENFORCEMENT-14. Power to require production of document

(1) The Director General in making an investigation under this Act may-

(a) require any person acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case to produce any contract of service or other document relating to the employment of an employee who makes a complaint under subsection 8(1);

(b) make copies of any contract of service or other document relating to employment produced under paragraph (a) ; and

(c) take or remove any relevant document.

(2) If the Director General is satisfied that the retaining of any document is no longer necessary, the Director General may return the document to the person who has provided the document as soon as practicable.

15 PART V GENERAL-15. Exercise of Director General's powers by labour officer

(1) Subject to subsection (2) and any limitation as may be prescribed by the Minister, a labour officer may exercise all the powers conferred upon the Director General by this Act, and every power so exercised shall be deemed to have been exercised for the purposes of this Act.

(2) A labour officer shall not exercise any of the powers of the Director General under this Act unless he is in possession of an authority card signed by the Director General authorizing him to exercise such powers.

16 PART V GENERAL-16. Prosecution

No prosecution for an offence under this Act shall be instituted except by or with the written consent of the Public Prosecutor.

17 PART V GENERAL-17. Compounding of offences

(1) The Director General may, with the consent in writing of the Public Prosecutor, compound any offence committed by any employer under this Act which is prescribed to be a compoundable offence by making a written offer to the employer suspected to have committed the offence to compound the offence upon payment to the Director General of an amount of money not exceeding fifty per centum of the amount of maximum fine for that offence within the time specified in the offer.

(2) An offer under subsection (1) may be made at any time after the offence has been committed, but before any prosecution for it has been instituted, and if the amount specified in the offer is not paid within the time specified in the offer or within such extended period as the Director General may grant, the prosecution for the offence may be instituted at any time after that against the employer to whom the offer was made.

(3) If an offence has been compounded und

18 PART V GENERAL-18. Exemption

The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, exempt with or without conditions any employer or class of employers from all or any of the provisions of this Act.

19 PART V GENERAL-19. Power to make regulations

The Minister may make such regulations as may be necessary and expedient for the purpose of carrying into effect the provisions of this Act.