The answer : Yes and No.

Yes if

• You are being tied under an employment contract which does not allow you to leave. I was in such a contract during my fresh graduate time – a 6 month contract which would require me to pay the money back (6 months salary) to the company if I were to leave.
• You have a bond with the company. This is usually activated if the company sends you for trainings. Be careful of such bonds because some of them can be ridiculously unfair.
• Or there is/are clauses in your employment contract which does not allow you to leave the company. Always read the employment letter properly before signing.

Otherwise, it’s a big NO. Companies do not have any right to stop you from resigning as long as you

• Serve the notice period.
• Pay back any money which you owe the company – bonds, notice periods, etc.

The reason I’m writing this post is because there are people who actually asked me what should they do if their bosses do not allow them to resign. Fact is, your bosses cannot stop you from resigning under normal circumstances. The labor law is on your side this time.

So for those inexperienced people, don’t worry. You should serve your notice period on the day you submit your resignation letter. Again, this is under normal circumstances and assuming you don’t have any debts/loans/bonds with the company.

If you are not sure, feel free to contact the labor department.

Contact number for local labour offices in Malaysia

or simply go to the official web site.

Labour Department Peninsular Malaysia

p/s… if you’re dealing with recruiters/headhunters, consult them because they know the labor law pretty well and they know how to deal with such situations.