Negotiating salary and benefits in Malaysia

Hi,

Salary and benefits can be negotiated. Generally the salary is revised on a yearly basis. In terms of benefits, you can request to include your dependent visa cost, good medical cover for you and for your family (your family cover charges may be deducted from your salary, still profitable), food and travel allowances.

These days there are few job consultancies who are providing only 6 days of medical leave which is risky if accepted. Medical leaves are used in emergency and in such cases I don't think 6 days per annum are enough. You can ask on that as well.

Hi,

Salary and benefits can be negotiated. Generally the salary is revised on a yearly basis. In terms of benefits, you can request to include your dependent visa cost, good medical cover for you and for your family (your family cover charges may be deducted from your salary, still profitable), food and travel allowances.

These days there are few job consultancies who are providing only 6 days of medical leave which is risky if accepted. Medical leaves are used in emergency and in such cases I don't think 6 days per annum are enough. You can ask on that as well.

Hi Bhavna,
Yes, indeed one should be prepared to negotiate the salary and other benefits. It is better to be prepared with the knowledge of industry bench mark and also the bench mark in Malaysia before negotiating.
Don't forget to consider the income tax in your negotiation. Your focus should be on net take-home salary.
Propose a salary range, not a single number
Avoid accepting the first offer you receive
Ask how the salary number was calculated
Get details on future salary increases and promotions.
Remember, you are in better position to negotiate if you are already in a job and earning.

A friend took a job with a well-known company and with it, accepted a standard slate of benefits offered to all staff which included increment, bonus, health, etc. which would become active after 12 months of employment. When the anniversary came in 2019, the employer refused to activate the benefits, citing the "poor performance of the Malaysian economy." No place in any documentation or oral agreements was it noted that benefits were contingent on the status of the country's economic health and they had a fight, resulting in my friend walking out in extreme bitterness.

It would be nice to know that this rotten treatment isnt common. I also cant say i have heard of it before. It occurs to me that an employer can promise the moon to catch an employee it wants, knowing full well in advance it never intends to make good on promises, leaving the employee to either go to court or quit. On this basis, im not even sure how an employee can protect themselves against unhappy future treatment when the employee has no knowledge of the fundamental honesty of the employer who is fully taking advantage of the fact the employee is far from home and without any representation. Is the next step that lawyers have to create employment agreements agreed to by both parties before the job starts?

Any similar stories to share and what, if any, remedies came as a result of broken promises?

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If I were to relocate to Malaysia for a job then I would expect a decent housing allowance, medical insurance, schooling at an international school for my children and a car allowance). Anything less than that would not interest me.

Clearly a lot depends on the level of job that you are applying for. Lower level jobs might not pay for schooling or car allowance.

I tihnk especially at the higher job levels that salaries are somewhat negotiable. However, because the comfort factor is so good in Malaysia then probably as long as the salary offered is reasonable that many might simply accept it. It depends if you are headhunted or not.

Also, there are plenty of very capable people in Asia so there is not the need to employ people form overseas or from other regions. One of my local friends previously worked at Air Asia and now runs eBay. Another is a Thai national and used to run eBay then left and ran TripAdvisor and now who knows where. Both are local of from SE Asia.