Just when things were starting to get slightly better after the Movement Control Order, the number of positive Covid-19 cases started to rise and the CMCO was imposed across Malaysia and most Malaysians went back to being confined indoors.
Most workers were asked to work from home and those who needed to go to their offices must only work from Monday to Wednesday, 10am to 2pm based on the SOPs provided by the National Security Council. While most companies have seemed to be following these rules, this company in Bangsar South deliberately disobeyed vital SOPs and even fired a worker who dared to stand up against them.
Priya (name altered for safety purposes) reached out to World of Buzz saying that she was unlawfully asked to leave the company despite being on a contract. Why? Because she kept questioning them on their non-adherence towards the CMCO SOPs set by the government.
Some of their non-adherence include:
- Employees not being asked to wear masks in office vicinity
- More staffs in office than the allowed limit
- The working schedule did not follow the schedule of not more than three days a week.
- Temperature checks were not conducted
- Employees are not being monitored if they check-in using MySejahtera
Company SOP>Government SOP
After questioning the management multiple times, Priya was asked to leave the company because apparently, she’s in no position to question their non-adherence to the Government SOP. As an intern in the department, when she approached the Chief Legal Counsel, she was only met with indecency and unprofessionalism towards her concerns.
When she brought up the issue forward to the Human Resources director, her concerns were laughed off!
“What government SOP? You follow OUR rules!”
As we all know, if your job requires you to travel inter-district or inter-state, a letter should be provided by the company. When Priya brought up the matter that her letter didn’t specify she would be working beyond the 10am to 2pm set time, the HR director brushed her off saying that the company can pay for it if she got fined.
The final interaction Priya had with her HR team lead.
The company is well aware of their negligence
With no proper notice and reasons given, she was told to leave the company on the very same day the discussion happened. After handing over her pending work and leaving the office, she got a text from the HR team requesting her to come back to work until her contract ends.
“I was extremely disappointed and confused when her reply to my question made it seem as if I CHOSE TO LEAVE THE COMPANY.”
Her further questions were ignored and was just asked to let them know if she wants to continue to work.
“I chose to voice out my concern because I cannot and will not adhere to the company’s negligence knowing that I will be putting my family, people around me and myself at risk.”
We asked Priya how has this whole situation affected her personally. Her concerns are that they could’ve taken these concerns into consideration instead of lashing out on her. Priya had a reason to worry as an employee’s father was confirmed Covid-19 positive but unfortunately, none of them were informed. This particular employee has his workspace in the open where many other employees walk pass to head to the lounge and meeting rooms as well. She believes that if the company is willing to pay for the fine to non-adherence of SOPs, this shows that the company is clearly aware of their negligence.
She just wants the management to know that this is not right and if everyone ignores their negligence, they are not going to get better. Many employees chose to stay silent so their jobs wouldn’t be jeopardized. It’s a tough situation and it’s very unfair for them as well to be risking their health.
It’s appalling that there are some companies out there still willingly risk their employees’ health despite the rising number of cases. Evident from the Teratai cluster, when your workers are at risk, it will definitely affect your company’s output as well! If you find yourself in similar situations, do not hesitate to lodge a complaint with the Health Ministry.
