Wan Hamzah SCJ:

The appellant was an employee of the respondent, Harper Gilfillan [1980] Sdn. Bhd. (the Company), on a monthly salary. After working with the Company for about 22½ years he was retrenched on 1 June 1983. The company paid him a certain amount of money as termination benefits under the Employment (Termination and Lay-Off Benefits) Regulations 1980, but he complained to the Labour Department that the computation of the termination benefits by the Company was incorrect and the payment was short of the correct amount. The Penolong Pengarah Buruh held an inquiry into the dispute under the Employment Act. The appellant's ground of complaint relates to the interpretation of reg. 6 and the meaning of "wages". That regulation in so far as it is relevant to this case reads:

6.(1) Subject to the provisions of the Regulations, the amount of termination or lay-off benefits payment to which an employee is entitled in any case shall not be less than:

(a) ...

(b) ...

(c) twenty days' wages for every year of employment under a continuous contract of service with the employer if he has been employed by that employer for five years or more,

and pro-rata as respect an incomplet