Court chairman says act was a 'misconduct'
Despite winning her case of unjust dismissal, a former executive will be seeing reduced compensation after she secretly recorded a meeting with her employer.
Free Malaysia Today (FMT) recently reported the case of Chong Ka Ong, a former sales and marketing executive who joined Light Discovery Sdn Bhd in 2019.
She was receiving a monthly allowance of RM3,000 on top of her monthly salary, according to the report, before disagreement emerged when she objected to receiving a lower salary and being stripped of her allowance.
According to the FMT report, which cited court documents, the company ordered her to appear for a meeting on December 30, 2020, alleging poor performance and misconduct.
During the two-hour meeting, however, the court heard that the company's officers berated the executive and used profanity instead of addressing her behaviour.
Following the incident, Chong filed for constructive dismissal effective December 31, 2020, the FMT reported.
Industrial Court decision
The matter was raised to Malaysia's Industrial Court, which agreed that Chong was victimised by her employer.
Court chairman Augustine Anthony condemned as "unacceptable" the company's conduct in reducing her compensation using a new salary scheme.
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The behaviour of the company's officers was also made to "force [Chong] out of her employment," according to Anthony.
The chair ruled Chong's dismissal was without just cause or excuse, adding that the company was also involved in unfair labour practices, breached the employment contract, and victimised her, the FMT reported.
Compensation deduction
Chong was supposed to receive RM75,000 for winning her case against her employer - but Anthony decided to cut this by 35% after it was discovered that she recorded her meeting with her employer.
The act was done during the grievance meeting between Chong and her employer and was only raised during the court hearing.
According to Anthony, the act was a "misconduct," while underscoring the importance of preserving company confidentiality.
It also left the company unable to defend itself, according to Anthony, after Chong's statement of case "conveniently omitted" to plead that she has a secret recording of the grievance meeting.
"No right thinking or reasonable employer would condone or acquiesce (in the recording by) any of (its) subordinates in a clandestine manner, especially when company’s matters are being discussed," Anthony said as quoted by FMT.
As a result, Chong would only be receiving RM48,750 after the court deducted a total of RM26,250.