JUDGMENT

Rozana Ali Yusoff J:

A. Introduction

[1] This is an appeal by the Appellant/Company against the award of the Industrial Court which was delivered on 12 December 2023, allowing the Respondent/Claimant's claim for unfair dismissal without cause and awarded RM18,000.00 to the Respondent/Claimant for back wages. This appeal was filed by the Appellant/Company for the reason that the hearing in the Industrial Court was done in the absence of the Appellant/Company to give direct evidence to prove its case.

[2] The parties will be referred to as the Claimant and Company as they were in the Industrial Court .

B. Background Of The Case

[3] The case before the Industrial Court (IC) is pursuant to a reference made on 29 May 2023 by the Director General of the Industrial Relations Department to the Industrial Court of Malaysia under s 20(3) of the Industrial Relations ACT 1967 arising out of the dismissal of the Claimant by the Company.

[4] The matter was fixed for mention before the IC on 21 June 2023, 6 July 2023 and also 4 August 2023 by way of google-meet. However, both the Claimant and the Company was absent on the three dates fixed. The parties were informed of every mention da