Recovering non-pecuniary losses in breach of employment contract under Malaysian law

Dismissal from employment is the prerogative of the employer. An impending dismissal must be carried out fairly with the affected employee given the right to be heard. When a dismissal has been effected in high-handed manner, it may have real prospect of humiliation and embarrassment to the employee...

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Main Authors: Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali, Shair Mohamad, Mohd Akram, Sardar Baig, Farheen Baig
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Language:English
English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/55702/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/55702/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/55702/1/55702_Recovering%20Non-Pecuniary%20Losses.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/55702/7/55702%20Recovering%20non-pecuniary%20losses%20in%20breach%20of%20employment%20WOS.pdf
id iium-55702
recordtype eprints
spelling iium-557022019-08-18T07:32:41Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/55702/ Recovering non-pecuniary losses in breach of employment contract under Malaysian law Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali Shair Mohamad, Mohd Akram Sardar Baig, Farheen Baig K Law (General) KPG Malaysia Dismissal from employment is the prerogative of the employer. An impending dismissal must be carried out fairly with the affected employee given the right to be heard. When a dismissal has been effected in high-handed manner, it may have real prospect of humiliation and embarrassment to the employee. Besides besmirching his reputation, it can also affect the employee’s ability to seek new employment, forcing him to accept employment offering lower wages than what would have been expected in the type of work, or even causing him ill health, among others. The availability of compensation for non-pecuniary losses such as wounded feelings or the effect of the dismissal on his reputation or the chances of finding other employment arising from the manner of the dismissal were excluded by the House of Lords in their landmark case of Addis v Gramophone Co Ltd [1909] AC 488. Such compensation was disallowed mainly because the common law perceived employment contract as an ordinary commercial contract and that such contract is not intended to shelter the parties from anxiety. The situation in the 21st century is however markedly different from 1909 where with the advancement of information technology, the transmission of information regarding the manner of a dismissal is borderless and thus, having far reaching consequences on the claimant. In light of the above, this paper discusses the high-handed manner of a dismissal, its impact on the employee and the availability of compensation for non-pecuniary losses under the statutory unfair or unjustifiable dismissal. Reference is made to the law and practice in selected countries namely, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the context of Malaysia, it will be contended that an employee that had been subjected to deplorable acts of victimisation while in employment and any high-handed manner of a dismissal, among others, should be awarded the non-pecuniary compensation. 2017 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/55702/1/55702_Recovering%20Non-Pecuniary%20Losses.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/55702/7/55702%20Recovering%20non-pecuniary%20losses%20in%20breach%20of%20employment%20WOS.pdf Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali and Shair Mohamad, Mohd Akram and Sardar Baig, Farheen Baig (2017) Recovering non-pecuniary losses in breach of employment contract under Malaysian law. In: 4th International Conference on Education and Social Sciences (INTCESS 2017), 6th-8th February 2017, Istanbul, TURKEY. http://www.ocerint.org/intcess17_epublication/papers/89.pdf
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local University
institution International Islamic University Malaysia
building IIUM Repository
collection Online Access
language English
English
topic K Law (General)
KPG Malaysia
spellingShingle K Law (General)
KPG Malaysia
Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali
Shair Mohamad, Mohd Akram
Sardar Baig, Farheen Baig
Recovering non-pecuniary losses in breach of employment contract under Malaysian law
description Dismissal from employment is the prerogative of the employer. An impending dismissal must be carried out fairly with the affected employee given the right to be heard. When a dismissal has been effected in high-handed manner, it may have real prospect of humiliation and embarrassment to the employee. Besides besmirching his reputation, it can also affect the employee’s ability to seek new employment, forcing him to accept employment offering lower wages than what would have been expected in the type of work, or even causing him ill health, among others. The availability of compensation for non-pecuniary losses such as wounded feelings or the effect of the dismissal on his reputation or the chances of finding other employment arising from the manner of the dismissal were excluded by the House of Lords in their landmark case of Addis v Gramophone Co Ltd [1909] AC 488. Such compensation was disallowed mainly because the common law perceived employment contract as an ordinary commercial contract and that such contract is not intended to shelter the parties from anxiety. The situation in the 21st century is however markedly different from 1909 where with the advancement of information technology, the transmission of information regarding the manner of a dismissal is borderless and thus, having far reaching consequences on the claimant. In light of the above, this paper discusses the high-handed manner of a dismissal, its impact on the employee and the availability of compensation for non-pecuniary losses under the statutory unfair or unjustifiable dismissal. Reference is made to the law and practice in selected countries namely, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the context of Malaysia, it will be contended that an employee that had been subjected to deplorable acts of victimisation while in employment and any high-handed manner of a dismissal, among others, should be awarded the non-pecuniary compensation.
format Conference or Workshop Item
author Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali
Shair Mohamad, Mohd Akram
Sardar Baig, Farheen Baig
author_facet Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali
Shair Mohamad, Mohd Akram
Sardar Baig, Farheen Baig
author_sort Ali Mohamed, Ashgar Ali
title Recovering non-pecuniary losses in breach of employment contract under Malaysian law
title_short Recovering non-pecuniary losses in breach of employment contract under Malaysian law
title_full Recovering non-pecuniary losses in breach of employment contract under Malaysian law
title_fullStr Recovering non-pecuniary losses in breach of employment contract under Malaysian law
title_full_unstemmed Recovering non-pecuniary losses in breach of employment contract under Malaysian law
title_sort recovering non-pecuniary losses in breach of employment contract under malaysian law
publishDate 2017
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/55702/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/55702/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/55702/1/55702_Recovering%20Non-Pecuniary%20Losses.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/55702/7/55702%20Recovering%20non-pecuniary%20losses%20in%20breach%20of%20employment%20WOS.pdf
first_indexed 2023-09-18T21:18:39Z
last_indexed 2023-09-18T21:18:39Z
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