DIMENSION BID (M) SDN BHD v MOHD FAIZZAL BIN BAHARULRAZI

wa-16a-28-06-2023 High Court (Mahkamah Tinggi) 26 November 2025 • WA-16A-28-06/2023 • 13 min read

5 cases cited (0 SG, 5 foreign)

Catchwords

Claimant issued transfer order from Terengganu to Labuan-he appealed but did not turn up at the station he was to report for duty-Company released him from employment- Industrial Court found Claimant to be have been dismissed without just cause and excuse-prior to transfer order, Claimant was informed on several occasions of the intention to transfer him due to slow down in the operations in Terengganu resulting from Covid-19 situation -whether transfer is a management prerogative-whether the Claimant is entitled to be informed as to the outcome of the appeal before the transfer order takes effect-whether issuance of release from employment the day after Claimant failed to report for duty is evidence of lack of bona fides-whether Claimant ought to have been issued a show cause to give him a right to be heard-breach serious enough to dispense with show cause-no useful purpose would be served with issuance of show cause.

Practice Areas

Employment & Industrial Relations

Judges (1)

Alice Loke Yee Ching Delivered

Counsel (5)

Pathma Raj Ramasamy & Co. Firm Syazwan Hasim & Azrel Eskandar Firm Azzan Aznan bin Abdul Rahim Counsel Appellant Iffah Faqiha Counsel Appellant Pathma Raj A/L Ramasamy Counsel Respondent

Parties (2)

DIMENSION BID Sdn Bhd Appellant Mohd Faizzal bin Baharulrazi Respondent

Case Significance

An unfair-dismissal award overturned where an employee's refusal to comply with a transfer order made under management prerogative, after repeated notice, justified the employer's action.

This High Court decision concerns a challenge to an award of the Industrial Court in an unfair-dismissal reference, brought by the employer company against a former field engineer. The employee had been engaged in 2006 and confirmed as a field engineer, and at the material time was stationed in Kemaman, Terengganu. Early in 2021, against the background of a slowdown in the company's Terengganu operations attributed to the Covid-19 situation, the company notified the employee on several occasions of its intention to transfer him and then issued a transfer order relocating him from Terengganu to Labuan. The employee appealed against the transfer but did not report for duty at the station to which he had been ordered, and the company treated him as having released himself from employment. The Industrial Court found that he had been dismissed without just cause and excuse.

On the company's challenge, the central questions were whether the transfer was a legitimate exercise of management prerogative, and whether the employee was entitled to be informed of the outcome of his appeal against the transfer before the transfer order took effect. The Court accepted that the relocation of staff in response to operational needs falls within management prerogative, and that on the facts the employee, having been repeatedly forewarned, was aware of the position; where the employee was aware of the misconduct there was no necessity to accord him a further right to be heard before the consequences followed.

The Court held that the Industrial Court had erred and allowed the appeal, with costs of RM3,000 payable to the appellant company. The judgment is a useful illustration of how the courts treat an employee's refusal to comply with a lawful transfer order made in the exercise of management prerogative, and of the limits of the right to be heard where the employee is already aware of the matter said to justify the employer's action.

Summary

A field engineer was transferred from Kemaman, Terengganu to Labuan due to Covid-19 operational slowdowns but failed to report for duty, resulting in his release from employment. The High Court allowed the employer's appeal, finding that the transfer was a legitimate management prerogative, the employee's refusal to comply constituted insubordination, and the absence of a show cause letter did not render the dismissal unjust.

Why did the employer challenge the Industrial Court award?

The Industrial Court had found the field engineer dismissed without just cause after he refused to report following a transfer from Terengganu to Labuan; the employer challenged that finding, arguing the transfer was a legitimate management prerogative prompted by a Covid-19 operational slowdown.

How did the Court decide?

The Court held the transfer fell within management prerogative and that, the employee being aware of the position after repeated notice, no further right to be heard arose; it allowed the employer's appeal with costs of RM3,000 to the appellant.

Statutes Cited

Employment Act 1955 (Cap 265)

Industrial Relations Act 1967

s 13

Cases Cited (5)

MY (5)

[2002] 2 MLJ 27 [2004] 3 MLJ 339 [2005] 2 MLJ 1 [2020] 10 CLJ 1 [2020] 4 MLJ 662

Judgment

Read the full judgment on the official Malaysia Courts portal.

Read on eJudgment

Source: eJudgment (wa-16a-28-06-2023)