INDUSTRIAL COURT OF MALAYSIA Between SHOBA NAIR A/P KOCHU NARAYANAN And ROCA MALAYSIA SDN. BHD. AWARD NO. : 2328 OF 2023 Before : Y.A. Puan Eswary Maree - Chairman Venue : Industrial Court Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur Date of Reference : 17.03.2021 Dates of Mention : 24.05.2021; 27.01.2022; 12.10.2022 & 07.09.2023 Dates of Hearing : 10.02.2022; 28.09.2022; 16.03.2023 & 21.06.2023 Representation : Mr. Vijayaraj Edward (Counsel for the Claimant)

Messrs Kumar Thangaraju & Co Mr. P Jayasingam (Counsel for the Company)

Messrs Zul Rafique & Partners REFERENCE This is a reference under Section 20(3) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 (1967 Act) by the Honourable Minister of Human Resources, emanates from the dismissal of Shoba Nair a/p Kochu Narayanan (“the Claimant”) by Roca Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.

(“the Company”) on 13.07.2020.

AWARD [1] This Court will determine the issues before it and make its findings based on the pleadings, the relevant oral and documentary evidences, the notes of proceedings and submissions. The following documents were filed before this Court:-

(i) Statement of Case dated 14.06.2021;

(ii) Amended Statement In Reply dated 23.07.2021;

(iii) Rejoinder dated 18.08.2021;

(iv) Company’s Bundle of Documents : COB-1;

(v) Company’s Supplementary Bundle of Documents : COB-2;

(vi) Travel Authorisation Form : COB-3;

(vii) Claimant’s Consolidated Bundle of Documents : CLB-1;

(viii) Claimant’s Post-Dismissal Documents : CLB-2;

(ix) Witness Statement of Diego Hernan Jolis : COWS-1;

(x) Witness Statement of Gaspe Mudiyanselage Anura Gamini Bandara Gaspe (Dr. Gaspe) : COWS-2;

(xi) Witness Statement of the Claimant, Shoba Nair a/p Kochu Narayanan :

CLWS-1;

(xii) The Claimant’s Additional Questions and Answers : CLWS-1A;

(xiii) The Claimant’s Written Submissions dated 16.08.2023; (xiv) The Company’s Written Submission dated 16.08.2023;

(xv) The Claimant’s Written Submissions In Reply dated 06.09.2023; and (xvi) The Company’s Written Submissions In Reply dated 06.09.2023 THE COMPANY’S CASE [2] By a letter dated 23.03.2010, the Claimant was offered employment as QA Manager in the Company on 25.03.2010 subject to the terms and conditions stated therein. She was confirmed in her appointment as QA Manager on 25.06.2010.

[3] Between August 2018 and 13.07.2020, the Claimant reported to COW-1, the MD and she was based in the Company’s factory at Bestari Jaya, Selangor (“Company’s factory’) and led the QA Department of the Company, which comprised of eight (8)

employees as at July 2020.

[4] As a QA Manager, the Claimant’s primary duties and responsibilities were amongst others, (i) to inspect the company’s products and report the quality issues to ensure compliance to the company and quality standards; (ii) to identify misinspection and product non-conformity issues; and (iii) to facilitate proactive solutions by collecting and analyzing quality data.

[5] At the time of the Claimant’s retrenchment on 13.07.2020, the Claimant’s last drawn basic monthly salary was RM8,228.46.

[6] Prior to her retrenchment from service on 13.07.2020, the Claimant had seven (7) staff reporting to her.

[7] The Company’s performance had been declining since 2016 due to global slowdown which affected the Malaysian economy, construction sector and oil prices, depreciation in the Malaysian Ringgit, increases in the price of natural gas which caused higher operating costs for the Company.

[8] In 2018 and 2019, the Company’s performance fell below expectations despite improvement in the last quarter of 2019 where the Company made losses of approximately RM1.3 million.

[9] Consequent to the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) by the Government of Malaysia on 18.03.2020, the Company’s factory ceased operations with effect from 18.03.2020, which severely impacted their ability to generate revenue and caused cash flow problems for the Company.

[10] As a result of the MCO, all staff, including the Claimant, were asked to work from home between 18.3.2020 and 03.05.2020.

[11] As a result of t