Ahmad Kamal Md Shahid J:

Introduction

[1] The substantive matter was brought to the Industrial Court (IC) by way of a reference dated 21 March 2022 by the Director General of the Department of Industrial Relations (DGIR) under s 20(3) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 ( IRA ) for a claim for wrongful termination of employment.

[2] The dispute before the IC is the claim by Mohd Norli Md Salleh (the Respondent) that he was dismissed from his employment without just cause or excuse by Protasco Berhad, the 1st Appellant (Protasco), Roadcare (M) Sdn Bhd, the 2nd Appellant (Roadcare), HCM Engineering Sdn Bhd, the 3rd Appellant (HCM Engineering) and KPS-HCM Sdn Bhd (KPS-HCM) on 1 September 2021.

[3] Upon the application by the Respondent at the IC and pursuant to an Interim Award No: 1942/2022 dated 29 August 2022, the Respondent's case against Protasco, Roadcare, HCM Engineering and KPS-HCM was consolidated and these cases were heard together thereupon.

[4] This is an appeal (Encl 15) by Protasco, Roadcare and HCM Engineering (the Appellants) against Award No 1873 of 2023 dated 5 September 2023 of the Learned Chairman of the IC that found the dismissal of the Respondent by the