MAS Termination - DISCRIMINATORY? Just retrench those MAS do not need - wrong to keep them as employees until 31st August?

DISCRIMINATION - Is it there when all MAS employees were given letters of termination - some asked to continue working and some told 'get out' now but you will continue receiving just basic salary (no allowance, etc..) until the day of your termination in end August? The effective termination day of ALL Mas Employees is apparently the same day - the end of August? Most shocking if it is true...

If you do not need their services NOW - why not just RETRENCH - why keep them on as 'employees who cannot come in to work' until end of August?  [See also:- MAS - Please get out now - your name is on the 'list'? Is that the way to treat employees?]

Allegedly all 20,000 of MAS employees have received letters of termination on or about 1 June 2015. All these letters allegedly state that the last day of employment will be in the end of August (31/8/2015?)

There are allegedly 2 kinds of termination letters:-

a) One that states that the said employee have to immediately stop coming to work, return key cards - but still employee of MAS until end August???; This is allegedly the kind of letter received by those employees, who did not receive letters of offer from the new company, Malaysian Airlines Berhad (MAB).

b) The other is a termination letter that states work on until the last day of employment on end of August.

In my opinion, there is an obvious DISCRIMINATION with regard to these 2 classes of employees.

Well, for a Flight Attendant - the basic salary is allegedly about 30% of the take home pay, and as such other allowances and benefits forms the bulk of their monthly income.

Now, for those that are asked to stop work immediately, they will be paid only the basic salary for the next 3 months... and this is unjust and discriminatory - for in terms of monthly income, they will only be getting a third of what they usually earn. 

Now, these employees are all 'ready and willing' to work until end of August, and it is their employer who seem to have decided that 'their actual services' are no longer needed. Justly, if that be the case, it my opinion that they too should really also be paid monthly average of their 'take home pay' - not just a basic salary.

RETRENCHMENT - that is what MAS should have done - yes, retrench all employees who you do not need anymore, and pay them 'retrenchment benefit' now. It is absurd for an employer to send an employee a letter saying that you will be terminated at the end of August - but you are barred from coming in for work from now until then. 

SO WHY DID MAS DO THIS? 

Well, if you retrench your employees there are some accepted legal principles that need to be complied with - (a) LIFO - Last In First Out; and (b) The obligation to try the best to place the potentially retrenched employee in another position within MAS.... and retrenchment must be justified.

So, it looks like MAS is 'being SMART' - look we are not retrenching anyone now - but it is all done in the end of August - ALL employees will be let go then...

Every employee is apparently still an employee until end August - well what is unjust is that some will be barred from coming in to work, and will enjoy no allowances, overtime, etc -- and for a Flight Attendant, this allegedly will work out to only 30 plus percent of what he/she would normally be taking home every month. 

NOW, WILL THIS EMPLOYEE WHO HAVE BEEN ASKED TO SIT AT HOME AND NOT COME IN TO WORK BE ABLE TO JUST FIND ANOTHER EMPLOYMENT ELSEWHERE NOW - AND BECOME AN EMPLOYEE OF ANOTHER? Or must he wait until he gets terminated at the end of August?

Well, maybe he/she can just leave MAS and be employed tomorrow with KLM, for instance, ... well, now that will mean the said employee will be RESIGNING now from MAS - and this will, I believe, result in MAS stopping his monthly pay... and this also may mean losing the 'TERMINATION PACKAGE' that MAS will give all employees terminated at the end of August...?

A SERIOUS DILEMMA for the still employee of MAS who has been asked not to come in to work from now, who as a result will now be having only about a third of the monthly take home pay because of this. [After all, flight allowances, overtime and some other payments only becomes an entitlement when you are working...

It is hoped that PM Najib, also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Khazanah - the owner of both Malaysian Airlines Systems Berhad, and also the new company- Malaysian Airline Berhad(MAB), would respond and clearly explain these termination - explain why MAS did not simply retrench NOW all the employees they have asked not to come in to work? 

# The above is my opinion,