The Rights of Employees in West Malaysia & Labuan
Updated: Feb 11
What Is Manual Labour?
The Act does not define what constitutes a "manual worker,"
The landmark case of Colgate Palmolive (M) Sdn Bhd v. Cheong Foo Weng & 12 Ors (and Another Appeal) [2002] 2 AMR 2107 defined the phrase "manual labour" as including the following activities:
“Manual labour involves physical exertion as opposed to mental/intellectual effort. Thus it is not manual labour if “the real labour involved is labour of the brain and intelligence”.
Whilst all manual labour would entail some manual work, it cannot be readily assumed that the person performing the manual work is a manual labourer and further it cannot also be accepted that the person is in law “engaged in manual labour”.
The test to determine whether or not a person is “engaged in manual labour” is: “what is the substantial/dominant purpose of the