The court confirmed the real employer-employee relationship and the jurisdiction of the Industrial Court concerning constructive dismissal claims implied under the Industrial Relations Act 1967.

[1] This is the applicant's judicial review application, among others, for an order of certiorari to quash the 1st respondent's decision dated 13 August 2018. The decision of the 1st respondent is in favour of the 2nd to 7th respondents in their claims for constructive dismissal against the applicant.

The Salient Facts

[2] The relevant facts gathered from the affidavits and documents before this court are the following:

(i) Cekal Teguh Sdn Bhd, the applicant, is a company incorporated and having its business in Malaysia. It has a total issued shares of 100,000 where 99,999 of the shares held by Tan Sri Halim bin Saad ('Tan Sri Halim') and the remaining one share is held by Meor Othman bin Meor Lope, the applicant's Managing Director.

(ii) In 2014, Tan Sri Halim had decided to construct a Methanol Plant in the Republic of Kazakhstan ('the project').

(iii) In this regard, Tan Sri Halim has agreed to appoint Datuk Syed Othman bin Abu Bakar, the 2nd respondent, as Project Director and 2nd respondent in turn had invited 3rd to 7th respondents as team members of the project.

(iv) On 11 March 2014, Tan Sri Halim had signed a document which confirms the appointment of all the respondents in the project. The document also states, among others, the position of each respondent, commencement dates, duration, salary, annual leave, medical insurance, travel claims and on-site benefits. In this document, it further states that the 2nd and 7th respondents (collectively 'the respondents') to commence their employment on 18 March 2014.

(v) Thereafter, on 17 April 2014, Tan Sri Halim incorporated Khazakhtan Methanol Limited ('KML') in Hong Kong. Tan Sri Halim held 25% of the ordinary shares of KML and the remaining 75% held by Markmore Energy (Hong Kong) Limited, a company controlled by Tan Sri Halim.

(vi) The fees and other related expenses for the incorporation and setting up of KML were paid by the applicant. KML head office is also located at the same building with the applicant's office which is at the Boulevard Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, Kuala Lumpur.

(vii) Upon the incorporation of KML, employment agreements were issued to the 2nd to 7th respondents where the salient terms of the agreement are as follows:

(a) the 2nd respondent was appointed as Project Director reporting to Tan Sri Halim and responsible for the overall management, design and completion of the Project. His contract was for 36 months from 18 April 2014 until 20 April 2017 with monthly salary of USD65,000.00.

(b) the 3rd respondent was appointed as the Project Control/ Service Manager responsible to strategise, develop and monitor the procurement and construction contract package of the Project. His duration of contract was for 36 months from 8 May 2014 until 7 May 2017 with the monthly salary of USD28,000,00 for the first 12 months and USD31,000.00 per month upon mobilisation to the site.

(c) the 4th respondent was appointed as a Project/Engineering Manager of the Project and responsible for strategising and implementing the project through controlling the technical and commercial compliance of the Project. His contract was for 36 months from 11 August 2014 until 30 June 2017 with monthly salary of USD32,000.00 for the first 12 months and USD 35,000.00 per month upon mobilisation to the site.

(d) the 5th respondent was engaged as the Technical/ Construction Manager of the Project who was responsible for technical reviews, progress tracking and auditing the construction and installation works. His contract was for 36 months from 1 May 2014 until 30 June 2017 with monthly salary of USD25,000.00 for the first 12 months and USD28,000.00 per month upon mobilisation to the site.

(e) the 6th respondent was appointed as the Process/ Commissioning Manager of the Project and was responsible to ensure that the Methanol Plant is designed acc