Retrenchment requires an employer to prove redundancy and act in good faith; failing which, dismissal may be deemed without just cause.

Andersen Ong Wai Leong:

Reference

[1] This is a reference from The Honourable Minister of Human Resources, Malaysia to the Industrial Court of Malaysia under s 20(3) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 ("the IRA ") in respect of the dismissal of Kilby Jacob Atticus (the claimant") by his employer, Halliburton Business Services Sdn Bhd ("the company") on 15 May 2020.

Facts

[2] The company is principally engaged in the business of providing general management services to Halliburton Group of Companies ("Halliburton Group") in Asia Pacific region, in the oil and gas industry.

[3] The claimant is an Australian citizen, married to a Malaysian citizen and was holding a spousal visa at all material times.

[4] By a letter dated 27 August 2019, the claimant was offered the position of Senior Procurement, Materials, and Logistics (PML) Manager (Job Code: PL03-ESG) by the company which he accepted it on 28 August 2019.

[5] Be that as it may, it was not until 11 November 2019, that the claimant was requested to report for work, only after the company had secured the employment pass for the claimant.

[6] Sometime in early 2020, the Halliburton Group including the company have embarked in a restructuring exercise to reorganise its operation.

[7] On 20 April 2020, the claimant attended a virtual meeting with his immediate superior at the material time, Ms Angel Astaman and Ms Stacey Liew who was the company's Human Resource Supervisor wherein he was informed of the company's decision to retrench the claimant on the ground that his position had become redundant.

[8] By a letter dated 6 May 2020, the company informed the claimant that his position had become redundant due to the company's reorganisation exercise and his last day of service was on 17 May 2020. The claimant acknowledged receipt of the aforesaid termination notice on 15 May 2020 and was paid among others, sign on bonus of RM36,075 and Severance Payment of RM19,057.53. Relevant excerpts of the said letter are reproduced herein below as follows:

As you are aware, the company is taking several measures to effect cost reductions and reorganise our operations more effectively due to the current market downturn. One of the measures, regrettably, affects you as your position within the company in Malaysia has become redundant.

Your last day of service with the company will be on 17 May 2020. We will be serving you with 4 weeks' of termination notice where you will be receiving payment in lieu for this notice.

Therefore, your final salary will be processed as follows, and you will receive severance payments, subject to relevant legislated deductions currently enforced, as detailed below.

1) Salary from 1 May 2020 till 17 May 2020.

2) 4 weeks' termination notice in lieu will be paid to you.

3) Severance payment of 1 month base salary for each completed year of continuous service and for an incomplete year, severance payment will be pro-rated up to your exact length of service; up to a maximum of 24 months.

4) Unused annual leave (if any).

Please be reminded that you are prohibited from using or disclosing Halliburton's trade secrets and confidential information and in the event of such breach, the Company in addition to any and all remedies of law will reserve the right to have an injunction, specific performance or other equitable relief to prevent the violation of your obligations. Please be advised that you have to return all Company's proprietary information of whatever nature and that you will not divulge or disclose any information to anyone outside Halliburton that may be of a confidential nature. You must also return all proprietary literature that was provided to you in your course of work.

Please note that all benefits will also be terminated after 17 May 2020. Kindly sign a copy of this notification and return to the undersigned so that your final payment can be calculated and processed. We sincerely regret that it has been necessary to implement this redundancy.

Kindly be informed that y