PERSEKUTUAN MAJIKAN-MAJIKAN MALAYSIA MALAYSIAN EMPLOYERS FEDERATION (Reg.

No: 1357-SELANGOR)
www.mef.org.my HEAD OFFICE: 3A06 3A07, Block A, Pusat Dagangan Phileo Damansara II, No. 15, Jalan 16/11, Off Jalan Damansara, 46350 Petaling Jaya Selangor, Malaysia. P.O. Box 11026, 50732 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: 603-7955 7778 Fax: 603-7955 6808/7955 9008 E-mail: mef-hq@mef.org.my

CONFIDENTIAL
(ForPrivateCirculation) MINUTESOFTHEMEETINGFORMEMBERSINTHEPERAKAREA HELDATMEFOFFICE,IPOHPERAK ON25thFebruary2011 Present(Member) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. InAttendance TanKeeTett ~ I.R.SeniorConsultant ChooBeeMetal SoongKokHong HenryYeoh K.SLeong Norjuhaina Shanmugasundram MarcusCheung StellaArudas SazaliShaari NgChingWai FeliciaChea KhairulSalleh Priya Jemmy NatalieMa MohamadAzahari NirmawatieMokhtar AndrewAnthony OngHanFeng DaveSudarshan NorrahaMusa

ThongFookCorpSdnBhd ThongFookCorpSdnBhd ThongFookCorpSdnBhd

IsoliteInsulatingFirebrickS/B Yoonsteel(M)SdnBhd OutwardBoundMalaysia

PerakChineseSpecialistHosp SeeKongTrading HovidBhd

PantaiHospital KencananHL KencanaHL

SeeKongTrading PantaiHospital

PerakTextileMillsSdnBhd ITLAsiaPacific

SpiderTeamSdnBhd RCILimeSdnBhd

Rubberex(M)SdnBhd

NORTHERN REGION SOUTHERN REGION EAST COAST REGION PERAK OFFICE EAST MALAYSIA REGION

Suite 5, Level 15, Wisma TNB, No.30, Jalan Anson, 10400 Penang. Tel: 604-227 9909 (DL) / 226 9236 Fax: 604-226 9873 E-mail: mefpg@mef.org.my Unit 22-03A, Level 22, Menara MSC Cyberport, No.5, Jalan Bukit Meldrum, 80300 Johor Bahru, JohoR. Tel: 607-226 4776 Fax: 607-226 5773 E-mail: mefjb@mef.org.my B-404, 1st Floor, Jalan Berserah, 25300 Kuantan, Pahang. Tel: 609-567 9152 Fax: 609-567 9153 E-mail: mefktn@mef.org.my A-1-3, 1st Floor, Wisma MFCB, No.1, Persiaran Greentown 2, Green Town Business Centre, 30450 Ipoh, Perak. Tel: 605-255 7778 / 605-255 9778 Fax: 605-255 2778 E-mail: mefip@mef.org.my 07-01B, Level 7, Somerset Gateway Building, Jalan Bukit Mata, 93100 Kuching, Sarawak. Tel: 082-247 027 Fax: 082-247 028 E-mail: mefkch@mef.org.my

The meeting commenced at 2.40 pm with Mr. Soong Kok Hong from Choo Bee GroupasChairman.TheChairmanwelcomedthosewhowerepresentandmembers who were attending for the first time were asked to introduce themselves. En. KhairulSallehfromPantaiHospital,Ipoh,introducedhimself. 1. Minutes Theminutesofthemeetingheldon19thofJanuary2011weredulyconfirmed ontheproposalofMs.NgChingWaifromSeeKongTradingCoandseconded by Ms. Stella Arudas from Outward Bound Malaysia with the following amendments: (a) Para2.1secondlastsentence: Anothermemberinformedthemeetingthatforthefirst3monthsthe deductionshouldbe26%ofthesalary. Thewords3monthstobeamendedto6months. (b) Para 3.2. The name Choo Bee Group be amended to Choo Bee Plantation. 2. MattersArising 2.1 PunishmentforSubmittingFalseMC Amemberenquiredwhetheritwasappropriatetopunishanemployee whosubmittedfakeMCwithasternwarning.Anemployeehadadmitted that he bought a Medical Certificate to take sick leave and was given warningbythecompany. The Chairman stated that the employee had cheated the company by producing fake medical certificate. It was a serious misconduct and he could be dismissed. The Chairman reminded the members to be careful withmedicalcertificateissuedbytheHospital.Therewasasyndicatein IpohactivelysellingfakeMCtotheworkers.Therewasnumerouspolice reportsmadebysomecompaniesbutnoactionshadbeentakenbythe police.
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2.2 ReemploymentAfterRetirement Anenquirywasmadebyamemberontheissueofthecoolingperiod forreemployment.Hewantedtoknowwhetheritwasmandatorytogive a30daysbreakforanemployeetobereemployedafterretirement. The Chairman stated that there was no clear provision in the law to require an employee to be away for 30 days before he could be reemployed. The provision in the Employment (Termination And LayOff Benefits)Regulations1980hadcausedmanyemployerstoperceivethat theremustbeacoolingperiodof30daysforreemployment.Regulation 3(2)statedasfollows: Forthepurposeofthisregulationacontinuouscontractofservicefora periodofnotlessthantwelvemonthsshallincludetwoormoreperiodsof employment which are not less than twelve months in the aggregate if theinterveningperiodorperiodsbetweenoneperiodofemploymentand anotherdoesnotintheaggregateexceedthirty(30)days. Theaboveprovisionwasprovidedtodetermineacontinuouscontractof service for purposes of calculating termination benefits. It should not applytoemployeewhohadbeenofficiallyretiredandlateragreedtobe reemployedunderafixedtermcontract. Iftheemployeewasinterestedtoworkimmediatelyafterhisretirement, hecouldapplythejobinwritingtothecompanyandstateadatewhich hewasabletostartwork. 2.3 UnionMembership AsubsidiarycompanyinSungaiPetaniwastomoveandjointheparent company in Kuala Kangsar. A member wished to know whether the workers of the subsidiary company could join the trade union in Kuala Kangsar. Workers in Sungai Petani were not unionised. They would still bepaidunderthepayrollofthesubsidiarycompanywhentheyworkedin KualaKangsar. The meeting was of the view that the workers were working under separate entities. The workers of the subsidiary company were not covered by the Collective Agreement of the parent company. It was not
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the employers concern whether the union accepted any workers as members.Legallytheworkersofthesubsidiarycompanyneededtoseek freshrecognitionfromtheemployeriftheyformedatradeunion. 2.4 DrugAbuse Could the employer require an employee who was suspected as drug addict, be sent for urine test? Where should he be sent for the test? Whatiftheemployeerefused?Amemberhadfacedsuchaproblem. The Chairman advised that the employee should be issued with a letter andbesenttothecompanysappointedpanelclinicformedicalcheckup. If he was found positive, a police report should be made. The employee should obey the instruction of the company or else he would be committingmisconductofrefusingamedicalexamination. 2.5 ExtraContributionForEPF A member enquired whether employers or employees could contribute moreforEPFassaving. The Chairman stated that some companies had contributed additional percentage of salary to EPF as retirement benefits. For such additional contributions, the company must sign a form of Tambahan Caruman. Themaximumcontributionwas19%. 2.6 MinimumWage Amemberraisedaquestionofminimumwage.Hewishedtoknowthe present position of the issue of minimum wage which was widely publicisedbytheMinisterofHumanResourcesinthepress.Whatwould betheeffectofimplementingminimumwagetotheeconomyand the businesscommunity? The Chairman was very certain that it would cause a negative effect to the business of some employers if minimum wage was implemented. Employees had different skills, experience and performance and they shouldnotbepaidequalwages.Moreover,companysabilitytopaywas entirelydependedontheprofitsandthetypeofbusinessitengaged.The costs of living in various towns differed and it was useless to fix a minimumwageofRM700.00permonthinKualaLumpursuchastherate
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fixedforthesecurityguards.TheChairmanwasalsooftheviewthatthe minimumwageshouldincludeallowancestobeagrosswagebutnotjust basicwage. 2.7 WorkPermit A member was anxious to know why the Immigration Department had issuedatemporaryworkpermittoherforeignworkersforoneyear. 3. CurrentNegotiationsandDisputes 3.1 HasratMerantiSdnBhd The dispute on Collective Agreement was referred to the Industrial RelationsDepartmentforconciliation.Thematterwasnotsettledandit mightbereferredtotheIndustrialCourt. 3.2 ChooBeePlantation Thetwooccupantswhowerenottheemployeesstillrefusedtomoveout fromthehousesintheplantation.Thecompanyhadnotyetdecidedon theactiontobetakenagainstthemalthoughtheHighCourthadordered themtobeevicted. 3.3 IsoliteInsulatingFirebrickSdnBhd TheIndustrialCourthadcompletedhearingofaclaimundersection20of the Industrial Relations Act 1967. The Award would be made in April 2011. 3.4 RCILimeSdnBhd ThecompanyhadappliedtotheRegistrarofTradeUniontoresolvethe Cement Industry Employees Union after dealing with the union for 30 years. This was because the company had stopped producing cement. Recently the NonMetalic Mineral Products Manufacturing Employees union had sought for recognition. The company had already received proposalfromtheuniontoconcludethefirstCollectiveAgreement.
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The Chairman stated that the permit for Bangladesh workers was renewedforoneyearbyPutrajaya.Thereasonwasnotclear.

3.5 Rubberex(m)SdnBhd Negotiations to renew the Collective Agreement with the union had commenced.TheunionhadalsoproposedtoincludeSupervisorsinthe CollectiveAgreement.Oneoftheissuesregardingretirementagemight bereferredtotheCourt. 3.6 PerakTextileMillsSdnBhd A claim under section 20 of the Industrial Relations Act 1967 was dismissed by the Industrial Court, Ipoh. MEF was representing the companyintheIndustrialCourt.However,theclaimanthadreferred the matter to the High Court for review. The company had engaged a legal firmtorepresentintheHighCourt.Decisionhadnotyetbeenmade by theHighCourt. 4.

AnyOtherMatters 4.1 ChineseNewYearDinner The Chairman thanked members who had participated in the Chinese New Year Dinner at Unique Seafood Ipoh. Due to short of time, some members were not aware of it as it was only decided and announced duringthelastMEFmeeting.

4.2 MeetingforMinimumWage The Chairman was informed that the government had convened a meetingwithvariouspartiesontheissueoffixingtheminimumwage.He was told that a representative from the World Bank had chaired the meeting. 4.3 MedicalInsurance TheChairmaninformedthemembersthattherecentimplementationof medicalinsuranceforforeignworkerswasnotapplicabletoagricultural sector.Nobodyknewthereasonwhyonlyemployersofotherindustries were required to buy the medical insurance policy but employers from plantationswereexcluded.
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4.3 Briefing The Chairman invited Mr. Tan Kee Tett, Senior ConsultantIndustrial Relationstobriefthemembersontheprovisionsofpaidpublicholidays, paid annual leave and paid sick leave. Mr. Tan had referred to Section 60D,60Eand60FoftheEmploymentAct,1955andexplainedindetails thevariousprovisionsinthelawtothemembers.Hehadcitedsomegrey areasandtheloopholesofthelawandexplainedtothemembersinhow toovercometheproblems. The meeting ended at 5.30 pm with a vote of thanks to the Chairman. Memberswereinvitedforrefreshment.ThenextPerakAreaMeetingfor March2011willbeheldonThursday17thofMarch2011at2.30pmat MEF Perak Branch Office, Ipoh. Members were encouraged to attend themeeting. **WE WOULD BE MOST GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD GIVE US A COPY OF YOUR COLLECTIVEAGREEMENTOR/ANDEMPLOYEEHANDBOOKATOURMEETINGFOR OURLIBRARY.

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