Application of Investigation & Intelligence-Led Enforcement Training for Sabah Labour Inspectors

CEI Reference number: CEI-003-2026

Title: Application of Investigation & Intelligence-Led Enforcement Training for Sabah Labour Inspectors

Timeline

Posted (date): 2 September 2026

Clarification Request Deadline: 7 September 2026

Application Deadline: 16 September 2026 by 23:59 hrs GMT +8

Notification of Results: 23 September 2026

Implementation Start Date: 1 October 2026

Implementation End Date: 30 November 2026

Locations

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

Sector(s) and area(s) of specialization

Counter-Trafficking and Labour Migration.

Issuing Agency:

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Project Background

The Department of Labour Sabah ( JTK Sabah ) plays a pivotal enforcement role in regulating employment standards, safeguarding worker rights, and ensuring legal compliance across one of Malaysia’s most dynamic socioeconomic landscapes. Operating across expansive geographic areas and characterized by remote agricultural plantations, logging operations, construction sites, and commercial services, JTK Sabah manages a high volume of local and non-resident workforces. Inspecting these industries requires specialized enforcement strategies capable of addressing complex statutory violations, remote operational challenges, and vulnerable worker dynamics.

Malaysia’s robust legal and policy frameworks, anchored by the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (ATIPSOM) Act 2007 (Act 670), the Sabah Labour Ordinance Cap. 67), the Criminal Procedure Code (Act 593), the Private Employment Agencies Act 1981, and the other relevant laws, place JTK Sabah at the forefront of national counter-trafficking and anti-exploitation efforts. Together with strategic national commitments including the National Action Plan on Anti-Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the National Action Plan on Forced Labour (NAPFL), the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAPBHR), and alignment with core international labor standards, these legal instruments empower inspectors to uphold worker rights across the state. As frontline regulatory authorities, labour inspectors serve as the critical first line of defense in detecting trafficking, forced labour, and statutory non-compliance. The operational reality of enforcing these overlapping statutory mandates across expansive and isolated districts highlights an opportunity to further strengthen proactive, intelligence-led enforcement capabilities. Bridging district-level information gaps and standardizing investigative protocols are essential steps toward building high-quality investigation dossiers that withstand administrative inquiries in the Labour Court and criminal prosecutions.

In line with the International Organization for Migration’s programme on SAFE SPACES: Supporting Anti-Trafficking Frameworks and Enhancing Victim Services, Protection, Awareness, Collaboration and Empowerment in Sabah and Sarawak, IOM seeks to collaborate with implementing partners to design, develop, and deliver a specialized, 3-round training program for the JTK Sabah .

Targeting 60 frontline labour inspectors, this initiative aims to strengthen operational enforcement by embedding structured intelligence analysis, trauma- informed interview protocols, and robust case identification techniques into routine workplace inspections. The developed curriculum must bridge international best practices in victim protection with Malaysia’s operational and legal frameworks.

The assigned consultant will be responsible for developing comprehensive training modules, facilitator guides, and practical tools focused on three core operational pillars:

Intelligence-Led Inspection & Risk Mapping: Developing tools to train inspectors on gathering, analyzing, and sharing field data across districts, enabling the department to move from reactive complaints to proactive identification of high-risk sectors and systemic exploitation patterns.

Structured & Trauma-Informed Interviewing: Formulating practical modules using structured interviewing techniques (including the National Decision Model and PEACE framework to conduct ethical, gender-sensitive, victim-centered interviews that secure reliable, court-admissible evidence).

Case Identification & Evidential Case Building: Creating guidelines to assist inspectors in distinguishing between routine labour non-compliance, forced labour, and human trafficking, ensuring evidence is effectively compiled into robust investigation for Labour Court and criminal proceedings.

Right- Based Victim Protection and Case Referrals: To equip inspectors beyond identifying offences/cases and towards safeguarding affected workers and facilitating referrals (for cases identified that is not applicable to their mandate).

By equipping Sabah’s labour inspectors with standardized analytical frameworks, forensic interviewing skills, and trauma-informed debriefing protocols, this project aims to enhance case success rates, accelerate judicial outcomes, and ensure proactive protection for vulnerable local and migrant workers across Sabah.

For more information, please refer to Annex A- Terms of Reference

For more information on this partnership opportunity, and to apply, please visit

Malaysia | International Organization for Migration

The organizations responding to this call need to demonstrate their capacity to implement all listed activities as a single package. Partial applications for individual activities will not be considered.

IOM reserves the right to cancel/reduce the scope of planned activities or to introduce new/broaden the scope of the existing activities. Selected Implementing partner needs to be ready to develop a detailed budget based on submitted proposal in two weeks upon receiving the notification from IOM.

All applicants will receive written notification, within the two weeks after the deadline for the submission of Concept Note, of the outcome of the selection process. Should an applicant request further clarification, IOM will provide a response explaining the transparency and integrity of the selection process undertaken.

IOM reserves the right to decline disclosure of the specificity of decision derived by the IOM mission due to reasons related to confidentiality.

IOM reserves the right to accept or reject any Expression of Interest, and to annul the selection process and reject all Expression of Interest at any time, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected Implementing Partners.

For more information, please contact in writing Ms. Nur Farah Hani, National Programme Officer at [contact details removed] and cc. Ms. Madhushani Warnasooriya at [contact details removed]

Expression of Interest submission guidelines

This document contains instructions on the preparation and submission of the Application including Annex A: IP Information.

The Application must be submitted through email to [contact details removed] with [contact details removed] in the cc, with a headline as “CEI-xxx-2026: Call for expression of Interest from Implementing Partners for Training for Investigation of Youth on Migration, Business, and Human Rights in Malaysia”, no later than 16 September 2026, 23:59 PM (GMT +8.00). Late application will no longer be considered.

A detailed description must be provided on how the requirements specified in the Call for Expression of Interest (CEI) issued by IOM will be matched by the capabilities, experience, knowledge and expertise of the Implementing Partners

The Application must be submitted in the English language and in the format prescribed by IOM within the CEI. All required information must be provided, responding clearly and concisely to all the points set out. Any application which does not fully and comprehensively address this CEI requirements may be rejected.

The Application document should comprise of the following:

Cover Letter;

Duly accomplished application documentation as outlined within the CEI signed on all pages by the prospective Implementing Par