Editor’s Note: This case came to light following the recent “cessation of office” of Maybank’s group chief financial officer Khalijah Ismail pursuant to an internal inquiry by her employer.
While financial analysts are mixed over governance concerns and reputational risks of the dismissal to Maybank, Khalijah has reportedly stated her desire to contest her “termination” on grounds that “no specific reasons were given for my termination other than a claim that the bank has lost trust and confidence in me”.
For the uninitiated, Khalijah who was appointed as Maybank’s GCFO on Oct 1, 2021 had held various roles within the group over the past 30 years.
EMPLOYEES have rights. It’s not easy to just dismiss them despite having what seem like reasonable grounds.
This pertinent point was underlined in a post by recruitment specialist Farid Affy (@faridaffy) on X when he unravelled how a former Bank Islam branch manager had won a case for unfair dismissal despite getting caught sleeping on the job on 11 separate occasions.
Branch Manager yang dah berkhidmat selama 11 tahun dipecat serta merta sebab 11x tidur waktu bekerja, dan dia masih menang court case sebanyak RM240,384 (lepas diskaun 50%)
Banyak kali aku cakap. Nak pecat pekerja ni bukan mudah. And kita sebagai pekerja perlu ambil tahu law. pic.twitter.com/RPKJwJfBFo
— Farid Affy (@faridaffy) February 17, 2025
Bank Islam was ordered to pay RM240,384 in compensation to Mohd Fauzi Sharif for unfair dismissal. The moral of the story is that employees need to know their rights in the event their employers resort to terminate their employment in an unfair manner.
Sharing details of the case, the poster further noted that the branch manager was terminated with immediate effect for sleeping on the job. There was even photographic evidence of this.
However, the industrial tribunal found the action taken by the bank to be excessive, especially in light of the branch manager’s long service record. The employee’s medical condition was also taken into consideration.
The post by Farid Affy has generated over 898.5K views at time of publication with many agreeing that employees are often ignorant of their rights.
One commenter pointed out that private companies need to be prepared for lawsuits if they dismiss staff willy-nilly. This will be especially pronounced if the dismissed staff is cognisant of his/her rights or could afford legal fees.
Another reckoned that this was the reality of the corporate world where nobody is your friend.
He highlighted that the photo evidence was most likely furnished by colleagues in the same department who were probably motivated by the promise of promotion and/or pay raise. Office politics is dirty, he cautioned.
One noted that most human resource departments will do the necessary by issuing the required warning letters before taking further action. Another claimed that there will be sustained pressure to make the staff resign on their own volition.
Obe commenter observed that often enough, the employer had already made up its mind to terminate or retrench the targeted staff.
As such, the employer will then pounce upon any flimsy excuse as cause for termination even though the justification is not strong. This is what leads to wrongful dismissal suits like in the Bank Islam case whereby the claimant had health reasons for falling asleep at work.
One lady commenter shared an experience during her pregnancy by claiming that her supervisors would turn up the heat upon learning she is expecting.
However, she successfully claimed compensation as well as a maternity allowance after bringing the matter to the Human Resources Ministry. This was despite the fact that she no longer worked at that company.
All said and done, labour laws are drafted to protect employees. The onus is often on the employers to show justifiable reasons for dismissing staff and even in this instance where there is photographic evidence of sleeping on the job, it was not enough.
As one netizen aptly put it – it will not be easy for employers to bully staff if the latter know their rights. In the same vein, the employer can only be successful if the staff are on board. – Feb 19, 2025
