EMPLOYMENT LAW

FATIMAH NOORDIN v. CARSEM (M) SDN BHD & ANOR [2025] 6 CLJ 713 (Court of Appeal)

Case Digest :

A mutual separation agreement entered between an employer and an employee would be deemed involuntary and consequently ineffective if an employee could demonstrate, on a balance of probabilities, that the employer used a “shock and awe” strategy or other coercive tactics to compel the employee to sign the agreement without providing a reasonable period for consideration, legal advice, or discussion with others. In such circumstances, the employer's actions constitute an unlawful dismissal and the Industrial Court has the jurisdiction to hear the employee’s claim, and allowing for remedies such as back wages.

NOTE : The moment an employee enters into negotiations for a severance package and later inserts, in his letter of resignation, the terms agreed upon, there is a concluded contract. An employee cannot have the best of both worlds; negotiating and accepting the terms of a separation with the employer and then, at the same time, claiming at the Industrial Court that he had been constructively dismissed : MATRIX GLOBAL EDUCATION SDN BHD v. FELIX LEE ENG BOON [2023] 2 CLJ 34 (Court of Appeal).

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