You have happily signed the Offer Letter, thinking you can prepare for the new job, but the employer suddenly tells you that due to certain company reasons, they will not hire any employees for the time being.
Do you want to curse the company at this point? I’ve already signed the offer letter and quit my last job, and now they’re telling me they don’t want me?!
If this situation unfortunately happens to you, can the worker sue the employer for compensation under Malaysian law? Based on the real case shared by Kuo Wang Law Firm , let’s see whether workers can defend their rights.
Case Description.
Xiao Ming signed an Offer Letter
With Company A on 16/03/2020 and was accepted as Recruitment Relationship Manager. He was supposed to start working on 20/04/2020.
Due to the pandemic, the Malaysian government began to implement the Movement Control Order in March of the same year. Therefore, both parties agreed to postpone the effective date of the Offer Letter to 04/05/2020, and become an employee of the company on the effective date.
However, the company suddenly withdrew France Phone Number List the previously signed Offer Letter on 27/04/2020. The company stated that due to the economic downturn caused by the epidemic, they no longer needed to recruit new employees. Therefore, the contract signed by the employer and the employee was withdrawn.
The court said that if the company
Violated the terms of the employment contract and did not hire Xiao Ming in accordance with the contract, Xiao Ming could take the case to the civil court instead of the industrial court. Xiao Ming could sue the employer in the civil court on the premise that the employer had breached the contract in order to claim financial/mental damages.
In the end, the Industrial Court rejected Xiao Ming’s application on the grounds that it had no jurisdiction.
Summary: Since the employer decided to Australia Phone Number List withdraw/cancel the employment agreement before the employee started working, the employee cannot sue the employer in the Industrial Court as an “employee”. However, the employee can sue the employer in the civil court for breach of contract.
