Andersan Ong Wai Leong:

A. 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 Chang Choon Hooi aka Vincent Chang ("the Claimant") by his employer, Apex-Pal Malaysia Sdn Bhd ("the Company") on 17 April 2020.

B. Facts

[2] The Company is principally engaged in the business of food and beverage. It operates several Japanese restaurant outlets in Peninsular Malaysia as well as Sarawak under the trading name of "Sakae Sushi".

[3] Pursuant to an employment letter dated 27 November 2019 ("Employment Letter"), the Claimant was appointed by the Company as a Finance Manager with effect from 27 November 2019.

[4] Sometime in February 2020, the Company announced the Voluntary Separation Scheme ("VSS") to all the staffs working in the Head Office and a total four (4) staffs were eventually allowed to leave under the VSS.

[5] On 16 March 2020, the Prime Minister of Malaysia announced the implementation of the Movement Control Order ("the 1st MCO") effective 18 March 2020 until 31 March 2020 to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

[6] T