Utusan must pay VSS in one lump sum
The Utusan Melayu newspaper could face legal action if it fails to pay compensation to employees under its voluntary separation scheme in one lump sum payment within 30 days of termination.
Failure to do so would constitute an offence under the Employment Act 1955.
This was also reiterated by the Deputy Human Resources Minister Mahfuz Omar who said that the Employment (Termination and Lay-Off Benefits) Regulations 1980 required that payments be made in one lump sum.
The company could be fined up to RM10,000 for each case, he said in response to a report that the newspaper company would pay compensation in monthly instalments for a year to its 800 employees who were offered the scheme.
“So far, we know the matter from media reports. The employees should be brave to come forward and make an official report (to the Department of Occupational Safety and Health) because without the report, we cannot take action,” he told a press conference after opening the Conference on Occupational Safety and Health here today.
Also present were director-general of the Labour Department Mohd Jeffrey Joakim, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health chairman Lee Lam Thye and Social Security Organisation deputy chief executive (corporate) Azlaily Abd Rahman.
Azlaily said Utusan employees who had been terminated under the VSS were entitled to apply for aid amounting to 600 a month for three months under the Employment Insurance System (SIP).
“Under SIP, we also help them to find (new) jobs through Jobs Malaysia,” she added.
NUJ had issued a statement earlier saying that the VSS offer made by Utusan Melayu to 800 of its 1,500 staff was insincere, dishonest and dubious. NUJ also said that they had only been informed of the offer at the eleventh hour.
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