ALOR STAR: Twenty former Kedah Agro Holdings Berhad (KAHB) employees, owed approximately RM337,000 in unpaid salaries spanning nine months, have agreed to a 30-month settlement plan.
KAHB former employee Mohamad Redzwan Ramlee said an agreement was reached after negotiations with representatives of Kedah Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) at the state Labour Department office today.
He said that under the discussed terms, full payment for five months' salaries will be made in May, while the remaining four months' salaries will be disbursed over two and a half years.
"We express our gratitude to Kedah MBI representatives for the discussion, and they have agreed that our salary arrears will be paid in monthly installments over two and a half years.
"As a start, they will pay the arrears of five months' salary in May, and the rest of our outstanding salaries will be paid in installments according to the agreed period," he said when met at the state Labour Department office here today.
Redzwan said the former employees accepted the proposed solution and considered it the best outcome achievable by all parties to resolve the issue.
He said that it also aligned with the suggestion made by Human Resources Minister Steven Sim for a respectful resolution of the issue.
"We are also pleased that Kedah MBI has agreed to settle the payment of termination notice benefits to the 20 KAHB employees terminated before Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
"However, the real issue in this matter is the nine-month salary arrears that need to be settled as we were working for a government-linked company (GLC)," he said.
Meanwhile, Kedah MBI chief executive officer Zafir Annuar Ghazali confirmed the agreement when reached for comment.
"It's okay... (the agreement) is based on mutual agreement by both parties as discussed earlier," he said.
On March 13, it was reported that a notice had been submitted in January to KAHB to clear salary arrears of up to nine months.
It was alleged that KAHB, a subsidiary of Kedah MBI, had not paid its employees' salaries since last September, which is a violation of Section 19 of the Employment Act 1955.
The employees claimed they had attempted to meet with Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, who is also Kedah MBI chairman, to resolve the issue, but Sanusi refused to bail out KAHB using state government funds.
On April 6, Sanusi announced the cessation of KAHB operations after determining that the company was no longer viable and burdened with excessive liabilities.
