00:00IT engineer Tan Seng Kok was awarded RM342,900 for wrongful dismissal after the industrial
00:11court ruled his failure to return to work following a prolonged COVID-19 recovery was
00:17not a breach of contract.
00:19The court said Sunshine Bread's Sundar Berhad acted with pre-planned malice and made life
00:25difficult for Tan before terminating his services.
00:29On June 30, 2021, Tan was admitted to a quarantine center as a Category 5 COVID-19 patient, leading
00:36to 183 days of hospitalization, medical, annual and no-pay leave, which ended on April 26,
00:452022.
00:46Tan was certified fit to work on April 4 and instructed to return on April 27, but he requested
00:52additional unpaid leave on April 26 due to ongoing rehabilitation.
00:58The company terminated his employment on April 28 after he did not return, later rejecting
01:04his leave request as unreasonable and unsubstantiated.
01:09Eswari Mari, the court chairman, described the leave rejection letter as an apparent
01:13afterthought issued post-termination and found that the company had planned to end Tan's
01:18services earlier.
01:21She also said that the company had failed to allow Tan the option of working from home
01:26although it was in possession of a private hospital's medical report stating that he
01:30could return to work under an alternate working scheme.
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