Case Update: Dismissal of employee arrested by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) deemed unfair

In this Case Update series, I share summaries of recent Malaysian court decisions to explore the current approach taken by the courts when deciding on employment-related issues. You can find all the posts in the series by clicking here, including case updates on other legal areas by TheMalaysianLawyer co-founder Lee Shih.

Employers are frequently caught off-guard when they have to respond to a sudden development that threatens to damage their corporate image or reputation. These days, a common example would be where an incident involving an employee goes viral on social media, in a negative way.

Although social media virality does spread a lot faster than traditional media, the legal issues are not new. I have advised employer-clients many times over the years on the proper process to follow when employees are the subject of negative media coverage, including instances where employees have been arrested.

Despite the urgency and sensationalism that comes with an employer being named in media reports, employers have to be clear-headed in responding to such situations (See: “Handing employee dismissals properly under Malaysian law”), as an over-reaction can have expensive consequences.

This was illustrated in the recent Industrial Court award in Abas Tuah v Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (Award No. 1749 of 2022).

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Case Update: Employee dismissed after sexual harassment complaint deemed unfairly dismissed due to improper process

In this Case Update series, I share summaries of recent Malaysian court decisions to explore the current approach taken by the courts when deciding on employment-related issues. You can find all the posts in the series by clicking here, including case updates on other legal areas by TheMalaysianLawyer co-founder Lee Shih.

Malaysian employers are still coming to terms with how to properly handle sexual harassment complaints. While many employers have been introducing anti-harassment policies and processes, and organising awareness and training sessions for employees, mistakes are still often being made in responding to complaints of workplace sexual harassment.

In a previous Case Update, I wrote about a case which illustrated how a mismanaged harassment complaint could expose an employer to a constructive dismissal claim (“Case Update: Employer’s poor handling of workplace assault and harassment complaints amounts to constructive dismissal”). I have also previously shared an Industrial Court case which serves as a useful overview for how the court views workplace sexual harassment (“Case Update: A guide to how the Industrial Court assesses sexual harassment complaints”).

This Case Update reviews the Industrial Court award in Lim Po Seng v Resort Villa Golf Course Berhad (Award No. 471 of 2023), where the court decided that an employee who was dismissed pursuant to a sexual harassment complaint was unfairly dismissed.

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Handing employee dismissals properly under Malaysian law

04 - dismissals

In this series, we have addressed the general employment law backdrop in Malaysia, legal issues when hiring employees, and how to ensure good employee management. This post will discuss the end of the employment life cycle — the termination of the employment contract, or dismissal.

Whether an employer is sacking someone on the spot, or terminating an employee’s employment contract by serving the contractually-agreed notice period, the employer must be able to show that the dismissal or termination was with just cause or excuse.

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