AWARD

Mary Shakila Azariah:

[1] This case has been referred by the Honourable Minister of Human Resources to the Industrial Court on 11 January 2006.

[2] The said case was initially heard by Court 12 but has been now transferred to Court 27 and for its Chairperson to hand down the Award. This award is written based on the notes of evidence taken verbatim by the Chairperson of Court 12.

Brief Facts

[3] The claimant was employed by the company its Senior Manager, Security and Risk Management vide the letter dated 16 August 1999. He reported to the Executive Director, Mr. William Chin. He was responsible for all aspects of Security and Risk Management throughout Malaysia for the company. He was promoted to the position of General Manager/Facilities, Security and Risk Management effective 1 July 2001. Vide the company's letter dated 3 June 2002 the claimant was informed that due to the reorganization of the securities operations within the company his position was redundant with effect from 3 June 2002 and that his services were no longer required by the company. The claimant was however offered the position of a Security/Facilities Manager Kuala Lumpur. The claimant contended that it was a demoted position. Vide the said letter the claimant was informed that if he did not accept the said position that was offered he would be terminated from service by the company. Vide a second letter dated 3 July 2002 the company informed the claimant that the said letter served as a formal notice of termination and that his last day of service would be 3 July 2002. The claimant also claimed that he was constructively dismissed and that the company had manipulated the claimant by using the term "redundancy". The claimant contends that he had been unfairly dismissed without just cause or excuse by the company.

[4] The company contends that the claimant was not dismissed by the company. Instead the company avers that the claimant had abandoned his job. It is its averment that the company did undergo a reorganization wherein its security department was restructured to make it more effective. As a result of this restructuring the claimant's position became redundant. The position of General Manager was replaced by Security Managers. To the company the claimant's employment was continued in that he was to be placed in Kuala Lumpur. The company contended that the claimant's relocation was bona fide and that his salary remained unchanged. The company contended that on 2 occasions the claimant was informed of the impending need for restructuring. It was the company's contention that the claimant did not report for work in Kuala Lumpur and that at no time did he protest to the company. The company states that the claimant's contention that he has been constructively dismissed is frivolous and that the company's relocation of the claimant is not a fundamental breach of the claimant's contract of employment.

Claimant's Evidence

[5] The claimant, Sukhdev Singh s/o Pritam Singh testified that he was employed initially as the Senior Manager, Security and Risk Management by the company vide the letter of employment dated 16 August 1999. He said that he was overall responsible for all aspects of Security and Risk Management throughout Malaysia for the company. Referring to the company's letter dated 16 July 2001 the claimant testified that he was subsequently promoted to the position of General Manager/Facilities, Securities and Risks Management effective 1 July 2001. He said that he was then also tasked with overseeing all the company's facilities/property maintenance, ensuring safety standards are established and compliance with local authorities regulations. It was his testimony that the letter dated 16 July 2001 also stated that he would be devoting a greater part of his time in Penang.

[6] The claimant further testified that vide the company's letter dated 3 June 2002 he was informed that his position had become redundant due to the reorganization of the security o