The Star
By ANN TAN and ZULKIFLY MOHAMAD
4/2/2009
GEORGE TOWN: Several companies here have extended their holiday shutdown and are offering employees 75% of their monthly salaries to scale down operational costs.
Malaysian Trades Union Congress has received complaints from members about employers verbally informing them the Chinese New Year holiday shutdown had been extended from the maximum two weeks to one month.
The congress’ Penang secretary K. Veeriah said the members’ had been seeking advice on whether to accept or reject the offer.
“The proposals were all made verbally. The workers felt caught in a bind.
“Any pay cut is considered illegal unless there is consent from the employees,” he told The Star yesterday.
Veeriah added employers usually observed a maximum two weeks shutdown for the Chinese New Year break, but they might opt for an extended break in view of the global economic slowdown.
Last month, the Penang Labour Department reported several companies cutting their staff salaries by between 3% and 10%; while some offered a two-week holiday shutdown for the Christmas to the New Year period.
Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers northern branch chairman Datuk O.K. Lee described the proposal as a generous solution as it was better than to retrench people.
“I believe this is a more reasonable way for the employees to share the suffering of the company,” he said, adding that more than 90% of the federation’s 2,300 members were affected by the global economic slowdown.
Lee said a dialogue between the federation’s chief executive officers and council members would be held on Feb 12 to discuss strategies to overcome the current situation.
Cuepacs president Omar Osman has appealed to federal and state governments not to terminate the services of contract staff, adding that the body’s random survey showed more than 1,500 of them were laid off in the past three months.
The latest case of termination involved 13 Penang Public Library Corporation staff members last month, some of whom, he said, had been working for 10 years.
“They were not given any reminders or warnings for poor performance, yet out of the blue, their service were terminated without compensation,” he said, adding that this was against a Government circular requiring laid-off civil servants to be compensated fairly.
By ANN TAN and ZULKIFLY MOHAMAD
4/2/2009
GEORGE TOWN: Several companies here have extended their holiday shutdown and are offering employees 75% of their monthly salaries to scale down operational costs.
Malaysian Trades Union Congress has received complaints from members about employers verbally informing them the Chinese New Year holiday shutdown had been extended from the maximum two weeks to one month.
The congress’ Penang secretary K. Veeriah said the members’ had been seeking advice on whether to accept or reject the offer.
“The proposals were all made verbally. The workers felt caught in a bind.
“Any pay cut is considered illegal unless there is consent from the employees,” he told The Star yesterday.
Veeriah added employers usually observed a maximum two weeks shutdown for the Chinese New Year break, but they might opt for an extended break in view of the global economic slowdown.
Last month, the Penang Labour Department reported several companies cutting their staff salaries by between 3% and 10%; while some offered a two-week holiday shutdown for the Christmas to the New Year period.
Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers northern branch chairman Datuk O.K. Lee described the proposal as a generous solution as it was better than to retrench people.
“I believe this is a more reasonable way for the employees to share the suffering of the company,” he said, adding that more than 90% of the federation’s 2,300 members were affected by the global economic slowdown.
Lee said a dialogue between the federation’s chief executive officers and council members would be held on Feb 12 to discuss strategies to overcome the current situation.
Cuepacs president Omar Osman has appealed to federal and state governments not to terminate the services of contract staff, adding that the body’s random survey showed more than 1,500 of them were laid off in the past three months.
The latest case of termination involved 13 Penang Public Library Corporation staff members last month, some of whom, he said, had been working for 10 years.
“They were not given any reminders or warnings for poor performance, yet out of the blue, their service were terminated without compensation,” he said, adding that this was against a Government circular requiring laid-off civil servants to be compensated fairly.
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