Termination of employment for CV fraud is justified as breach of trust invalidates the employment contract.

[1] This is a reference by the Honourable Minister of Human Resources under s 20(3) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 (Act 177) (' IRA ') on 28 July 2016 to the Industrial Court arising out of the dismissal of Khoo Kim Loang (hereinafter referred to as 'the claimant') on 6 November 2015 by Shock Media Studio Sdn Bhd (hereinafter referred to as 'the respondent') and was received by the Court on 26 August 2016.

[2] The claimant had seen a vacancy advertised by the respondent in JOBSTREET and he decided to apply for the post of "Sales Consultant" with the respondent. He sent a letter intituled "Job Application" to the respondent as shown in p 5 of the company's Bundle of Documents (hereinafter referred to as "COB1"). In his letter, the claimant stated that he is enclosing a copy of his resume and stated that 'with his training and working experience', he knows that he can contribute to the respondent. He also stated that a personal meeting will assure the respondent "of his ability, willingness and manageability" and that he also look forward to examining any of the ways which the respondent 'feel his background and skills would benefit the respondent company'. The resume of the claimant is in pp 6-9 of COB1. The Court will deal with the resume in greater detail later on in this Award.

[3] On 21 September 2015, the claimant attended an interview with the respondent. On the same day, the claimant filled up the respondent's standard Job Application Form which is adduced at pp 1-4 COB1 and provided a copy of his curriculum vitae (hereinafter referred to as the "CV") which was referred to by the claimant in his Job Application Form to the respondent. The claimant signed a declaration on p 4 of the Job Application Form that the information supplied in this Job Application Form is accurate to the best of his knowledge.

[4] After the interview, the claimant was offered the position of "Senior Sales Consultant" via a Letter of Offer dated 25 September 2015 (hereinafter referred to as "the LO"). In accordance with cl 13 of the LO, the probation period for the claimant shall be three months starting from 1 November 2015. The respondent also has the sole discretion to decide whether or not to confirm the claimant in his appointment either before or after the expiry of the probation period and the decision will be based on the respondent's assessment of the claimant's performance during the probation period. It is also provided that if there is no confirmation of the claimant's employment, the offer will lapse automatically. It is further provided in cl 14(a) of the LO that "During the probation period, either party shall be entitled to give a 24 hours' written (notice) to the other to terminate the present appointment without having to assign any reason for it".

[5] Based on the above clause in the LO, the claimant was terminated on 6 November 2015. The respondent's main reason for the termination is that the claimant has submitted a false CV to the respondent. At least two of the companies listed in the CV of the claimant are non-existent and the claimant could not provide any explanation to the respondent, the respondent terminated the claimant's employment. A cheque for the claimant's salary for five days was prepared for the claimant but the claimant refused to accept the said cheque.

[6] The claimant then made a representation to the Director General of Industrial Relations (hereinafter referred to as "the DGIR") that he has been dismissed without just cause and excuse, and upon receiving a notification from the DGIR that the representation could not be settled, the Honourable Minister has referred the representation to the Industrial Court for a