AWARD

Siti Saleha Abu Bakar:

Reference

[1] The dispute emanates over the alleged dismissal of the claimant by the company on 31 December 2003. Vide letter of 29 November 2004 from the Industrial Relations Department the dispute was referred to the Industrial Court by the Minister of the Human Resources under s. 20(3) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 for an award.

The Facts Of The Case

[2] The claimant was appointed by the company as an Assistant Factory Manager on 2 May 2003 and was on probation for six months. Vide letter of 8 July 2003 he was confirmed to the position of Factory Manager effective from 1 July 2003 with a new basic salary of RM3,100 per month.

[3] On 28 November 2003 the claimant was called to the office of Richard Ng the Managing Director (COW1) who questioned him about the recruitment of a staff who was not doing any work in the warehouse. COW1 then reprimanded the claimant and also said that he (COW1) had no confidence in him.

[4] On the same day the claimant submitted a resignation letter (exh. CO1) to the company. The letter reads as follows:

28 November 2003

To: M.D. - Medicplas

Fr: Eldophol Pereira

Subject: Resignation

Please accept my resignation effective the 1 December 2003 with a month's notice. As such my last day would be the 31 December 2003.

Thank you.

...

[5] The claimant also wrote a second letter requesting his salary to be paid in cash with a proportionate bonus.

The Evidence

[6] The claimant testified that during the material time the equipment used by the company needed to be monitored by machine operators to achieve the set quality and targets. He stated that there was a shortage of staff because of some resignations and since he needed a shift supervisor and two production operators to be recruited he informed the management of this. Subsequently the shift supervisor and the two production operators were recruited and reported for duty on 1 November 2003 and 15 November 2003 respectively.

[7] The claimant went on to say that on 28 November 2003 he was called to the office of the Managing Director Mr. Richard Ng (COW1) who questioned him about the recruitment. Also present were Ms. Jenny Leong, the Executive Director and Mr. Yap, the Finance Director. The claimant stated as follows:

When he found out the truth ie, that 3 people were appointed by Jenny Leong he asked me to resign. This is the management's decision. He started shouting - screaming at me and insisted I write a resignation letter immediately and leave the company. He said `I have no confidence in you. You have disobeyed me'.

[8] According to the claimant due to the undue pressure from COW1 he had no alternative but to write the resignation letter to the company. He then left the premises and did not come back to work.

[9] In cross-examination when the claimant was asked why he wrote exh. CO1 he replied that circumstances lead him to resign and he also needed the money. He also said that by "circumstances" he meant the wedding of his daughter and payments to be made for that.

[10] The evidence of the Warehouse Executive (COW2) is that when COW1 went on his rounds he saw a lady sitting at COW2's place. COW 2 said he told COW1 he didn't know who she was. He further confirmed that he never asked for an assistant.

[11] COW1 testified that the reason he called the claimant on 28 November 2003 between 2pm to 2.30pm was to clarify why the claimant engaged a person in the warehouse who had nothing to do. COW1 confirmed that he then reprimanded the claimant who then walked out of the room.

The Submissions

[12] In it's written submission filed on 31 October 2005, the company contends that the claimant's letter of resignation is unequivocal and unambiguous. The company maintains that the claimant had made it absolutely clear he was exercising his right to resign and did not give any reason for doing so. Hence it is the company's submission that the claimant resigned voluntarily of his own accord.

[13] The company's further submission is that the claimant's c