The burden of proof lies on the claimant to establish constructive dismissal, which was not met in this case.

[1] The reference from The Honourable Minister of Human Resources, Malaysia pursuant to s 20(3) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 (hereinafter referred to as "the IRA ") in this case requires this Court to hear and determine the complaint made by Nitiyawathy a/p Ramachandram (hereinafter referred to as "the Claimant") with regard to her dismissal by IJ Pharmacy (S2) Sdn Bhd (hereinafter referred to as "the Company") effective 13 September 2020.

[2] This Court has considered the following cause papers and documents in handing down this Award, namely:

(a) the Claimant's Statement of Case dated 20 October 2021;

(b) the Company's Penyataan Balasan Responden dated 19 December 2021;

(c) the Claimant's Rejoinder dated 21 January 2022;

(d) the Claimant's witness statement (Nitiyawathy a/p Ramachandram) marked as "CLWS-1";

(e) the Company's witness statement (Tew Chin Yong) marked as "COWS-1";

(f) the Claimant's Bundle of Documents marked as "CLB-1";

(g) the Claimant's Bundle of Documents Volume 2 marked as "CLB-2"; and

(h) the Company's Bundle of Documents marked as "COB-1".

Brief Facts Of The Case

[3] The Company was established in Malaysia with its registered office at No 87, Jalan Molek 3/1, Taman Molek, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor. At all material times, the Company has the nature of business in pharmacy and retailer for healthcare.

[4] Pursuant to a letter dated 28 September 2018 (hereinafter referred to as "the Memorandum of Agreement"), the Claimant joined the Company on 1 October 2018 as a Provisionally Registered Pharmacist (PRP) with a monthly basic salary of RM2,400.00 and monthly allowance of RM200.00. The Memorandum of Agreement provides that the Claimant was appointed as a PRP for one year and subsequently as a Fully Registered Pharmacist (FRP) for another three years upon her successful registration with the Pharmacy Board of Malaysia with Type A Licence registered under her name at any premises assigned by the Company.

[5] Upon her appointment as PRP, the Claimant commenced her employment at the Company's outlet at Tesco Bukit Mertajam, Penang (hereinafter referred to as "the BMT Branch"). By way of a letter dated 28 April 2020 (hereinafter referred to as "the Letter of Transfer"), the Claimant was transferred to the Company's outlet at Berjaya Waterfront Complex, Johor (hereinafter referred to as "the BWC Branch"). On 30 July 2020, the Claimant tendered a letter to inform that she was resigning with two months' notice and her last working day would be on 1 October 2020 (hereinafter referred to as "the First Letter of Resignation"). Thereafter, by way of a letter dated 3 August 2020, the Company informed that it could not accept the Claimant's resignation as she had not completed her three years contract with the Company as a FRP (hereinafter referred to as "the Company's First Reply"). On 10 August 2020, the Claimant tendered another letter to revoke the First Letter of Resignation and informed that she was resigning with four months' notice and her last working day would be on 9 December 2020 (hereinafter referred to as "the Second Letter of Resignation"). The Company replied through a letter dated 11 August 2020 and informed that it did not accept the Claimant's resignation as she had not completed her three years contract from 12 December 2019 until 11 December 2022 as a FRP (hereinafter referred to as "the Company's