Mediation Key To Industrial Harmony, Cost Savings In Workplace Disputes

GEORGE TOWN, June 27 (Bernama) -- Mediation, as a primary mechanism for resolving workplace disputes, helps save time and costs while preserving industrial harmony.

Human Resource Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong stated that industrial relations officers (IRO) under the ministry successfully resolved 65 per cent of cases referred to the director-general of the Department of Industrial Relations annually via mediation, representing over 3,000 cases in 2024.

"In other words, only 35 per cent of disputes proceeded to the Industrial Court.

"If each case appearing before the court costs both employers and employees about RM20,000, we are looking at cost savings of more than RM60 million in 2024 alone," he said in his keynote address at the inaugural Industrial Mediation Symposium 2025 held here recently.

Sim added that even before cases are referred to the Industrial Court, the Department of Industrial Relations under the ministry employs alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms, primarily through conciliation meetings, to settle disputes amicably.

Currently, he said, 122 IROs under the ministry serve as conciliators to help workers and employers resolve conflicts swiftly and peacefully.

Sim said these officers receive professional mediation training through collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) at the International Training Centre in Turin, Italy, as well as other institutions such as the Kuala Lumpur Mediation Centre and the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).

Beginning in 2024, he said, the Human Resource Ministry also partnered with the United States Department of Labour to further strengthen its officers’ capacity in industrial mediation.

The one-day symposium on June 21 was organised by the Society of JP Community Mediators Penang (SJPCMP), in collaboration with the JP Mediation Bureau Penang and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM).

-- BERNAMA