Facing a Termination Letter: How Do I Handle Paying for Quitting After Just One Day?

Could someone help me respond to the letter of termination? I have sent my letter of resignation to my previous company. I am a contract employee for a one-year contract. The issue is that I am a newly hired worker for a one-year contract. I have signed the agreement, but after several days, I resigned because I was not suitable for the job. The trainer mentioned that trainees can leave the company at any time if they are not suitable for the job. This job requires 20 days of training in banking before I can start. As advised, the company that hired me asked me to send a letter of resignation as a proper way to leave the company.

The problem is that the company wants me to pay the sum of $XXXX as pay in lieu of notice. I only started training for one day before quitting. The company wishes me to pay the sum even though they haven't paid me a single cent. There was no warning letter from the company.

What are my rights in response to the letter of termination? I received this letter of termination today, August 16, 2012, and the company wants me to pay the sum within seven days. Please reply to me immediately.

Understanding Your Employer's Notice of Termination

The appropriate response to your employer's notice of termination and demand for financial restitution depends entirely upon the contents of your contract of employment, along with the prevalent labor laws and industrial contract laws in Malaysia.

Ideally, you could consult an industrial lawyer in KL. If you find that is an expensive option, then perhaps you could approach one of the not-for-profit legal resource centers to assist you in drafting a response for a minimal fee or perhaps even free.

Maybe your previous employer is acting completely within the spirit of the appointment letter or contract of employment that you entered into at the time of accepting employment.

Be that as it may, what you need is sound legal advice on whether or not the clauses (that you may have signed, alright) were legally insertable in the first place. Because if they aren't permissible legally, then regardless of whether or not you signed your assent to those clauses, it renders them legally untenable and unenforceable.

On the other hand, if the clauses and their insertion in the contract of employment and letters of employment are legal in Malaysia, then you need a very good lawyer or very sound legal advice on why those clauses shouldn't apply in your case.

Either way, please seek professional and expert guidance and not mere opinions from those who you think may know a little of what you need to know. Because nothing is more injurious and damaging than well-intended but misleading advice that is free!

Hope this helps you!

I really appreciated your advice regarding this matter. It really helped me, and I will seek expert advice to consult me regarding this matter. Exactly, this is the issue why I resigned immediately. First, the company had terminated my service (cases of neglect of duty and absences from work without justifiable reason—that is not true at all) in the first place before I sent my resignation letter. Second, what I am aware of is that the XYZ company has told us (trainees) that there is no 'payment' or 'salary' during the 22 days of training or more (3 months) without any notice from the company. This means my colleagues and I, as trainees/employees, worked without any salary/allowance, as they promised earlier they would pay us during the training. There is no such thing written in the 1-year contract employee agreement that we had signed.

Therefore, on my side, it is not fair for me to pay one month's salary to the company if the XYZ company itself doesn't give us any salary, payment, or allowance during the 22 days of training or more (3 months). This is the reason why I left XYZ company, and I think an employer shall be deemed to have broken his contract of service with the employee if he fails to pay wages to us as trainees/employees.

Summary Of Incident:

1. I only started training for one day (because I am newly hired).

2. The employer terminated my service in the first place (because of absenteeism—cases of neglect of duty and absences from work without justifiable reason—that is not true at all).

3. The employer wants me to pay one month's salary to the company (without a show cause notice and warning letter from the company).

4. Training without any salary lasted for 22 days or more (3 months), which is the reason for leaving the company. It costs us to travel from home to the workplace, petrol for the car, food and drink, and other expenses.

5. I think an employer shall be deemed to have broken his contract of service with the employee if he fails to pay wages to us as trainees/employees.

Regards

My dear, the more I read of your incident, the more I am convinced that you really need to seek sound legal advice. There are a whole lot of contentious points that stand out in your latest post. What I or anyone on this forum thinks about them adds up to a big fat zero when it comes to what really matters.

What Really Matters

What really matters is not our thoughts or our views. What matters is how Malaysian statutes define, deal with, and repair the issues that you mention. The only person who can help you there is a good lawyer.

Please don't get me wrong. I am not trying to fob you off. It's just at this point in time you really don't want to waste your time asking people whether they agree with you or not, or getting people to validate your thoughts on whether or not you are a victim.

Maybe you really are a victim of a whole range of issues. But, like I'm saying (sounding similar to a broken record by now), the only person who you want to hear that from is your lawyer. Because that is the only person who can actually make a difference and commence the process that will really start to help you.

I really wish you luck. All the very best in your hunt for a lawyer or alternative legal resource center. Do it quickly because you only have 7 days to respond. Lawyers aren't exactly known for their agility in dealing with matters. Not because they're lazy, but because each matter requires a lot of preparation, and usually, most lawyers have a lot of matters on simultaneously.

Take care!