Voluntary retrenchment: voluntary or mutual separation scheme

When an employer is facing declining business, he may be forced to make a substantial reduction in his workforce, either by way of retrenchment or through the introduction of a voluntary separation scheme ('VSS'). Unlike in the case of retrenchment, in the case of a VSS, the employer issue...

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Main Author: Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Malaysian Current Law Journal Sdn Bhd 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/42818/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/42818/1/VOLUNTARY_RETRENCHMENT.pdf
id iium-42818
recordtype eprints
spelling iium-428182017-11-07T02:52:33Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/42818/ Voluntary retrenchment: voluntary or mutual separation scheme Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali K Law (General) When an employer is facing declining business, he may be forced to make a substantial reduction in his workforce, either by way of retrenchment or through the introduction of a voluntary separation scheme ('VSS'). Unlike in the case of retrenchment, in the case of a VSS, the employer issues a circular inviting its employees to take advantage of an early retirement scheme. Under the scheme, the employer normally offers an attractive retirement package, which is better than the statutory minimum offered for retrenchment. When an employee makes an application for VSS, he is considered as offering his early retirement to the company, subject to the company's acceptance of it. When the company accepts the employee's application for VSS, the contract of employment is said to be terminated by mutual consent and it is not considered a dismissal. What is important to note in this type of scheme calling on the employees to apply for early retirement, is that by its very nature, it is done on a voluntary basis, without the employee being forced into retirement. The court cannot in equity and good conscience give effect to a purported mutual agreement which is not genuinely consensual, in particular where the employee's volitional capacity is impaired at the time he is purported to have agreed to the mutual termination. On the other hand, an agreement mutually and freely arrived at between the parties must be given effect to. In the case of the former, the onus is on the employee to establish by cogent evidence that he was forced into signing the mutual separation agreement. The Malaysian Current Law Journal Sdn Bhd 2015-01 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/42818/1/VOLUNTARY_RETRENCHMENT.pdf Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali (2015) Voluntary retrenchment: voluntary or mutual separation scheme. Industrial Law Reports, 1. i-xvi. ISSN 0127-3051
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local University
institution International Islamic University Malaysia
building IIUM Repository
collection Online Access
language English
topic K Law (General)
spellingShingle K Law (General)
Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali
Voluntary retrenchment: voluntary or mutual separation scheme
description When an employer is facing declining business, he may be forced to make a substantial reduction in his workforce, either by way of retrenchment or through the introduction of a voluntary separation scheme ('VSS'). Unlike in the case of retrenchment, in the case of a VSS, the employer issues a circular inviting its employees to take advantage of an early retirement scheme. Under the scheme, the employer normally offers an attractive retirement package, which is better than the statutory minimum offered for retrenchment. When an employee makes an application for VSS, he is considered as offering his early retirement to the company, subject to the company's acceptance of it. When the company accepts the employee's application for VSS, the contract of employment is said to be terminated by mutual consent and it is not considered a dismissal. What is important to note in this type of scheme calling on the employees to apply for early retirement, is that by its very nature, it is done on a voluntary basis, without the employee being forced into retirement. The court cannot in equity and good conscience give effect to a purported mutual agreement which is not genuinely consensual, in particular where the employee's volitional capacity is impaired at the time he is purported to have agreed to the mutual termination. On the other hand, an agreement mutually and freely arrived at between the parties must be given effect to. In the case of the former, the onus is on the employee to establish by cogent evidence that he was forced into signing the mutual separation agreement.
format Article
author Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali
author_facet Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali
author_sort Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali
title Voluntary retrenchment: voluntary or mutual separation scheme
title_short Voluntary retrenchment: voluntary or mutual separation scheme
title_full Voluntary retrenchment: voluntary or mutual separation scheme
title_fullStr Voluntary retrenchment: voluntary or mutual separation scheme
title_full_unstemmed Voluntary retrenchment: voluntary or mutual separation scheme
title_sort voluntary retrenchment: voluntary or mutual separation scheme
publisher The Malaysian Current Law Journal Sdn Bhd
publishDate 2015
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/42818/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/42818/1/VOLUNTARY_RETRENCHMENT.pdf
first_indexed 2023-09-18T21:01:02Z
last_indexed 2023-09-18T21:01:02Z
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