There are rules and regulations to follow at work, but what happens when you’re imposed with penalties that cost you a whopping RM5,000?
A Malaysian man named Kingsley (pseudonym), who works in the hospitality industry, recently reached out to WORLD OF BUZZ to share an invoice that he received from the HR manager after he resigned. The invoice listed Kingsley’s mistakes and he was expected to pay the company back for it.
After including the 8% service tax, Kingsley was asked to pay an amount of RM5,023.
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In what was thought to be a joke, the General Manager of the company himself confirmed that the invoice was legitimate, which you can refer to below. Parts of the invoice are blurred for privacy purposes.
- Room Accommodation (RM2,000)
- “Group booking with complimentary rooms for Medical & Equipment room but rates were captured for 4 nights with 2 rooms (RM250+ per night for a room). You have acknowledged that rates are to be adjusted and updated manually in the system but failed to do so after last-minute changes from the Sales Team, as per your e-mail with the General Manager.
- Best Rate Guaranteed (BRG) Penalty (RM2,175.93)
- “Rates were not checked properly, which led to the BRG claim from the guest arriving in 2025. Hotel ended up paying the BRG for the mistake.”
- VIP’s Transportation (RM280)
- “2 cars were arranged for the VIPs as a service recovery for the mistake. Transportation changes and requests were not acknowledged by you, resulting in the cancellation penalty charge to the hotel.”
The 4th penalty was not disclosed to us, but it cost RM195.
Labour department was alerted
Kingsley tendered his resignation letter in June this year and was given the invoice shortly after his tender. Kingsley, however, was NOT going to pay, so he brought the matter up to corporate.
“After a thorough investigation, Corporate HR told them to retract the invoice and issue me an official statement stating that they will not pursue.”
Kingsley even requested the statement as safekeeping.
“I knew they were going to pursue this matter even after I left.”
Guess what? In the statement, HR admitted that they did have the intention of pursuing this matter after Kingsley’s absence. Fortunately, they won’t now. However, Kingsley had to endure mental torture while serving his notice period.
All because he reported the matter to the corporate.
“I had to endure harassment while I served my notice which took a toll on my mental and physical wellbeing,” Kingsley told WORLD OF BUZZ.
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Kingsley added that he also escalated the matter to the Malaysian Labour Department (JTK), in hopes that the latter would take action. However, the case didn’t go further.
“JTK told me they could only take action if HR illegally withheld my salary, or deducted the penalties from my pay.”
At the time of writing (August 15), Kingsley has yet to receive any apologies from his former GM and HR, and they have not shown any remorse throughout his notice period.
“To my knowledge, the GM and the HR manager had suffered no consequences. Not a warning. Not even even a reprimand.”
We genuinely wish Kingsley all the best in his new workplace and environment! Have you had any bizarre encounters with your HR or your superiors?
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