UMW TOYOTA SDN. BHD.
V.
NOORLIZAH BTE. ABDUL RAHMAN
LABOUR DEPARTMENT, KOTA KINABALU
CHAIRMAN: LIM HENG SENG
CASE NO. 7/4 – 440/94 (8 OCTOBER 1994)
6 & 8 SEPTEMBER 1995
For the Union - Mr. A. Sivananthan, Member of the Industrial Relations committee
of the Malaysia Trades Union Congress for the Claimant.
of the Malaysia Trades Union Congress for the Claimant.
For the Company - Mr. N. Sivabalah of M/S. Shearn Delamore @ Co.
AWARD NO. 110 OF 1996
[22 MARCH 1996]
DISMISSAL: Whether just cause or excuse – Failure to hand-over manually operated invoices to chief cashier – Collection not immediately banked in – Acted in accordance with instructions of immediate superior – Whether an extenuating factor – s. 20(3).
The Court is of the view that the dismissal of the Claimant is unnecessarily harsh. She appeared to have been considered by the Company to have been acting in cahoots with the supervisor who was the villain in the piece. The company’s view of the matter is not borne out by the evidence before the Court. The claimant can rightly be held to be wanting in moral courage in that she did not refuse to follow her superior’s unlawful instructions. She cannot, however, be said to be an abettor or accomplice in the sense of being an active collaborator with her supervisor in the perpetration of his misdeeds. For her failure to meet the standards of conduct expected of her she could have been firmly and fairly dealt with in any number of ways short of dismissal.
Conclusion and Award
The Court therefore holds that the Claimant’s dismissal was unduly harsh and therefore without just cause.
It is, however, the Court’s view that an order of reinstatement is inappropriate in all the circumstances of the case. Suffice it that the Court, taking into account her proven misconduct, makes an award of monetary compensation. The Company is directed to pay to the Claimant following sums of monetary compensation:
(a) RM7,740.00 [(RM645 x 24) / 2]] by way of backwages and
(b) RM967.50 [(RM645 x 3) / 2]] by way of compensation in lieu of reinstatement.
The total sum of RM8,707.50 is to be paid to the Claimant on or before 30 April 1996.
