AWARD

Syed Noh Said Nazir @ Syed Nadzir:

A. Reference

[1] This is a reference under s 20(3) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 in relation to the dismissal of Chin Lee Han (hereinafter referred to as ("the claimant") by NTT Malaysia Digital Business Solution Sdn Bhd (hereinafter referred to as "the company") with effect from 10 August 2021 in order for her matter to be heard and an award to be handed down.

[2] In the course of the proceedings and in preparing the full award herein, the following cause papers and documents had been taken into consideration:

(A) Pleadings

a) Statement of Case dated 3 June 2022.

b) Statement In Reply dated 24 June 2022.

c) Rejoinder dated 14 April 2023.

(B) Bundles of Documents

d) Company's Bundle of Documents marked as "COB-1".

e) Company's Supplementary Bundle of Documents marked as "COB-2".

f) Claimant's Bundle of Documents ("CLB-1").

g) Claimant's Supplementary Bundle of Documents ("CLB-2").

h) Claimant's Supplementary Bundle of Documents (2) ("CLB 3").

i) Claimant's 2021 EPF Statements ("CLB-4A").

j) Claimant's 2022 EPF Statements ("CLB-4B").

k) Claimant's 2023 EPF Statements ("CLB-4C").

(C) Witness Statements

l) Company's Witness Statement of Vishal Chhiber (COW-1) marked as "COWS-1".

m) Company's Witness Statement of Kasturi Arumugam (COW-2); marked as "COWS-2".

n) Claimant's Witness Statement marked as "CLWS- 1".

(D) Written Submissions

o) Written Submission by the Company dated 23 January 2025.

p) Written Submission by the Claimant dated 19 May 2025.

q) Reply Written Submission by the Company dated 5 June 2025.

r) Reply Written Submission by the Claimant dated 18 June 2025.

B. Parties In Dispute

[3] The company formerly known as Emerio (M) Sdn Bhd is a technology solutions provider company which utilises the existing technology for system automation and was undergoing an integration and reorganisation exercise (hereinafter referred to as "Exercise") said to have commenced since 2018.

[4] The claimant was a Senior Manager in the company commencing on 16 March 2020 with a monthly salary of RM11,000.00 per month and was confirmed in her position on 8 July 2020. Throughout her tenure, the claimant performed her duties without being subjected to disciplinary action. She was granted a salary increment in April 2021 following a performance appraisal.

[5] In the midst of an internal integration and restructuring exercise beginning in July 2020, the claimant raised concerns regarding headcount reductions in the Human Resources (HR) Department, the resulting heavy workload, and malfunctioning HR systems. On 11 June 2021, in a meeting held online the claimant believed was to discuss manpower planning, she was issued a Notice of Retrenchment uploaded during the meeting, purportedly on grounds of redundancy due to the company's integration and restructuring exercise.

[6] The claimant's last drawn salary was RM11,275.00 per month [refer to p 18 of CLB].

C. Undisputed Facts

i. Movement Control Order And The COVID-19 Pandemic

[7] On the backdrop which led to the dispute in this case, the unprecedented emergence of Coronavirus or better known as COVID-19 pandemic and a series of Movement Control Orders (MCO) that followed suit effective 18 March 2020 were cited and relied upon by the company in narrating the serious economic downturn of the company. As a result, the company was dragged into having to face financial difficulties to continue its business operations the way it used to carry out its business prior to the pandemic.

ii. The Retrenchment

[8] It is pleaded that given the aforesaid unprecedented scenario, the company has been severely impacted by its inability to operate the business as usual. The company averred that after a thorough assessment of its business, the company decided to engage the digital employee management system which is known as Workday that is a world-class HRIS system. The company initiated moving the back-end human resource operation to the Shared Services Centre which resulted in a better automated system f