Employment Law
6 cases · November 2019 to July 2026
Case Volume by Year
1 19
1 24
1 25
3 26
2019–2026
Key Issues & Sub-Topics
Appeal — Labour Officer — Inquiry under s 69 Employment Act 1955 — Appeal under s 77 Employment Act 1955 — Minimum wages — Statutory minimum wage — Minimum Wages Order 2022 — National Wages Consultative Council Act 2011 — Basic wages — Whether minimum wage constituted mandatory statutory minimum incapable of contractual exclusion — Whether employee’s acceptance of wages below statutory minimum defeated subsequent claim for arrears — Whether employee estopped by acquiescence, waiver, laches or approbation and reprobation from claiming statutory minimum wage — Whether statutory rights capable of being waived by agreement or conduct — Whether employer entitled to rely on deferred implementation of Minimum Wages Order 2022 — Whether deferment depended on rural location or number of employees employed — Burden of proof — Documentary evidence — Payslips and payroll records — Calculation of statutory wage arrears — Whether transport allowance formed part of basic wages — Whether EPF contributions, annual leave pay and public holiday pay could be set off against statutory minimum wage arrears — Scope of appeal — Successful party not entitled to appeal against findings in its favour — Overtime claims not subject of cross-appeal — Whether appellate court should interfere with findings of fact of Labour Officer — Social legislation — Protective employment legislation. 1 Fraud — Breach of confidence — Client solicitation — Misappropriation of monies — Former employee — Property management company — Threshold issue of employment nexus established — Transfer letter defective — No direct evidence of solicitation — Line group chat post-dated employment — Section 28 Contracts Act 1950 — Restraint of trade void — Hearsay evidence — Adverse inference under section 114(g) Evidence Act 1950 — Tenant not called as witness — Alleged financial policy unsupported — Unsigned documents — No proof of deceit — Damages speculative and inflated — Claim dismissed with costs RM100,000.00 1 Appeal from High Court — High Court allowed the Respondent-Company’s appeal and set aside the award of the Industrial Court — Employee charged with "stealing or taking company property without permission" — Whether charge against the employee was vague and ambiguous. 1 Appeal from High Court — High Court allowed the Respondent-Company’s appeal and set aside the award of the Industrial Court — Employee charged with "stealing or taking company property without permission" — Whether High Court Judge had erred in finding that the Industrial Court imposed an unduly onerous burden on the Respondent 1 Appeal from High Court — High Court allowed the Respondent-Company’s appeal and set aside the award of the Industrial Court — Employee charged with "stealing or taking company property without permission" — Whether in absence of dishonesty, the dismissal of the employee was justified. 1 Dismissal — Employees suspended — Reference made to Industrial Court — Subsequent claims for unpaid wages made to Labour Office — Whether Labour Office had jurisdiction to decide on wage claim despite earlier reference to Industrial Court — Whether jurisdiction of Labour Office ousted — Whether High Court Judge had erred in interpreting section 69A of the Employment Act 1 Confidential information — Post-employment duty — Common law and contractual obligation — Continuing fidelity after termination Employees owe a continuing duty of confidentiality and fidelity even after leaving employment, particularly in competitive industries involving trade secrets. Confidentiality — Breach of confidence — Coco v AN Clark elements — Applied and affirmed — Confidential nature, obligation, unauthorised use, detriment The court reaffirmed the three Coco elements: confidentiality of information; obligation of confidence; unauthorised use resulting in detriment. Elements (i) and (ii) admitted; dispute centred on use and detriment. Evidence — Burden of proof — Legal burden vs evidential shift — ss.101–103 & 106 Evidence Act — I-Admin presumption recognised — Karen Yap Chew Ling followed Plaintiff carries legal burden; s.106 EA shifts evidential burden where facts lie with defendant. I-Admin recognised as evidential presumption, not displacement of legal burden; applied consistently with Karen Yap Chew Ling. Breach — Inference of misuse — Circumstantial evidence — Pre-resignation downloads — Formation of competitor — Solicitation of plaintiff’s clients — No credible alternative explanation Misuse inferred from data downloads pre-resignation, immediate involvement in WICE-backed rival, solicitation of at least six key clients, and absence of plausible rebuttal. Evidence — Rebuttal — Implausible ransomware justification — Failure to delete/return data — s.106 EA engaged — Burden unmet Defence of ransomware backup rejected as untenable. Duty to delete/return confidential data persisted post-resignation; defendants failed to explain use. Damages — Detriment — Loss of major clients — Financial decline — Causal link inferred — Unrebutted financial records Plaintiff’s financial statements showed loss of major clients and negative margins post-departure; court inferred wrongful use of confidential data enabled rapid competitive entry. Tort — Conspiracy to injure — Unlawful means conspiracy — Combination, intent, overt acts, damage — Circumstantial chain established Defendants jointly incorporated rival entity, leveraged confidential data, solicited clients, and promoted competitive advantages, cumulatively evidencing unlawful means conspiracy. 1 Expatriate — Dismissal from employment — without just cause or excuse — dismissal protection — “single economic unit” or “functional integrity” test in ascertaining the continuity of employment Company Law — lift of corporate veil — whether veil should be lifted to determine the nature of employment when there were no apparent special circumstances such as fraud or unconscionable act by employer — court to strike balance between piercing corporate veil in exceptional circumstances and legitimate entitlements of wrongfully dismissed employees — fairness, equality and proportionality in treatment of vulnerable employees — Hotel Jaya Puri Bhd v National Union of Hotel Bar and Restaurant Workers [1980] 1 MLJ 109 case is still a good law for industrial jurisprudence Contract Law — Fixed term contract or permanent contract of employment — whether a need for a work permit is material to determine the genuine nature of contract — whether successive automatic renewal of contract of employment without intermittent breaks in between is a permanent employment — determination through employer’s subsequent conduct during the course employment and total duration of service 1
Fraud — Breach of confidence — Client solicitation — Misappropriation of monies — Former employee — Property management company — Threshold issue of employment nexus established — Transfer letter defective — No direct evidence of solicitation — Line group chat post-dated employment — Section 28 Contracts Act 1950 — Restraint of trade void — Hearsay evidence — Adverse inference under section 114(g) Evidence Act 1950 — Tenant not called as witness — Alleged financial policy unsupported — Unsigned documents — No proof of deceit — Damages speculative and inflated — Claim dismissed with costs RM100,000.00 1 case
Appeal from High Court — High Court allowed the Respondent-Company’s appeal and set aside the award of the Industrial Court — Employee charged with "stealing or taking company property without permission" — Whether charge against the employee was vague and ambiguous. 1 case
Appeal from High Court — High Court allowed the Respondent-Company’s appeal and set aside the award of the Industrial Court — Employee charged with "stealing or taking company property without permission" — Whether High Court Judge had erred in finding that the Industrial Court imposed an unduly onerous burden on the Respondent 1 case
Appeal from High Court — High Court allowed the Respondent-Company’s appeal and set aside the award of the Industrial Court — Employee charged with "stealing or taking company property without permission" — Whether in absence of dishonesty, the dismissal of the employee was justified. 1 case
Dismissal — Employees suspended — Reference made to Industrial Court — Subsequent claims for unpaid wages made to Labour Office — Whether Labour Office had jurisdiction to decide on wage claim despite earlier reference to Industrial Court — Whether jurisdiction of Labour Office ousted — Whether High Court Judge had erred in interpreting section 69A of the Employment Act 1 case
Expatriate — Dismissal from employment — without just cause or excuse — dismissal protection — “single economic unit” or “functional integrity” test in ascertaining the continuity of employment Company Law — lift of corporate veil — whether veil should be lifted to determine the nature of employment when there were no apparent special circumstances such as fraud or unconscionable act by employer — court to strike balance between piercing corporate veil in exceptional circumstances and legitimate entitlements of wrongfully dismissed employees — fairness, equality and proportionality in treatment of vulnerable employees — Hotel Jaya Puri Bhd v National Union of Hotel Bar and Restaurant Workers [1980] 1 MLJ 109 case is still a good law for industrial jurisprudence Contract Law — Fixed term contract or permanent contract of employment — whether a need for a work permit is material to determine the genuine nature of contract — whether successive automatic renewal of contract of employment without intermittent breaks in between is a permanent employment — determination through employer’s subsequent conduct during the course employment and total duration of service 1 case
Key Statutes
Evidence Act 1950 (Cap 56)
cited in 2 cases Employment Act 1955
cited in 1 case Employment Act
cited in 1 case Industrial Relations Act
cited in 1 case Contracts Act 1950 (Cap 136)
cited in 1 case Rules of Court 2012
cited in 1 case Industrial Relations Act 1967 (Cap 177)
cited in 1 case Penal Code (Cap 574)
cited in 1 case Court Distribution
Key People & Firms
Top Judges
Evrol Mariette Peters 2 Nallini Pathmanathan 1 Abdul Rahman bin Sebli 1 Tengku Maimun binti Tuan Mat 1 Mohd Zawawi bin Salleh 1 Idrus bin Harun 1 Che Mohd Ruzima bin Ghazali 1 Azman bin Abdullah 1 Noradura binti Hamzah 1 Raja Segaran a/l S.krishnan 1 Lee Swee Seng 1 Azhahari Kamal bin Ramli 1 Wan Ahmad Farid bin Wan Salleh 1 Azizul Azmi bin Adnan 1 Ahmad Fairuz bin Zainol Abidin 1
Top Firms
Cases
ma-16-7-10-2025
G-FORCE SECURITY SERVICES SDN. BHD. v GUNAHSEGERAN A/L V G BALA SUBRAMANIAM
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ja-22ncvc-44-03-2025
Delight House Management (KL) Sdn Bhd v Chew Choi Ting
12 April 2026
MYHC
w-04a-423-09-2024
Lee Ee Chai v Kansai Paint Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd
12 March 2026
MYCOA
b-04a-422-09-2024
1. ) PHILIP PHANG KIN MING 2. ) GUNASEKAR A/L MARIAPPAN v M JETS INTERNATIONAL SDN BHD
7 October 2025
MYCOA
p-02ncvcw-2102-12-2023
1. ) LEE YIK CHIEH 2. ) SOH CHIN YIN 3. ) EUROASIA TOTAL LOGISTICS (M) SDN. BHD. v OTL ASIA SDN. BHD. (dahulunya dikenali sebagai CKE TRANSPORT AGENCY SDN. BHD.)
1 December 2024
MYCOA
02f-11-02-2019w
AHMAD ZAHRI BIN MIRZA ABDUL HAMID (Singapore ID.: S73102254A) v AIMS CYBERJAYA SDN BHD (No. Syarikat: 794695-X)
27 November 2019
MYFC