Security Guard Receives 3 Years of Overtime Back Wages
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Murali Vengu, a security guard who worked at a car workshop and insurance claims centre, filed a claim for overtime, annual leave and public holiday wages against his employer in October 2021.
Murali is the only one in charge of the entire workshop's security that houses the damaged cars going through the insurance payment process. The workshop employer did not hire additional security guards.
Murali was asked to work from 7 pm until the workshop office opened at 9 am the next day. Although he was supposed to only be on duty for 12 hours, i.e. from 7 pm to 7 am, he was usually asked to wait until the office came to work at 9 am and worked up to 14 hours a day.
No annual leave, no weekly rest days
His employer did not allocate weekly rest days and annual leave for him and had him work on public holidays. When he had to take a leave for important matters, Murali had to ask his wife to cover for him at the guardhouse until he returned.
Even though he worked 12 to 14 hours a day, he only received a basic salary of RM1,300 and a petrol allowance of RM250 per month. He was not paid any overtime wages and resigned in 2018.
According to Murali's representative, Sivarajan Arumugam, during a conciliation meeting at the Subang Jaya Labor Department on February 8, 2022, the employer tried to mislead Labor Department officials, saying that they had made various payments to Murali.
However, further examination showed that the employer had combined the petrol allowance and EPF contribution to give the impression that they had paid a large amount to Murali and that his claim was incorrect.
Sivarajan explained that Murali's claim involved various components, such as overtime pay claims on regular working days, rest days and public holidays, in addition to unpaid work during rest days and public holidays.
Murali received RM58,000 in back wages
The employer admitted that they did not pay overtime wages to Murali and proposed a solution that was to be discussed without involving the Labour Court.
After several negotiations between the employer and the officer, the employer finally agreed to pay RM58,000 to Murali as the settled amount. The amount is approximately equivalent to an overtime salary of RM1,600 per month for three years.
Source: PSM