ALOR STAR – A total of 20 former employees of Kedah Agro Holdings Bhd (KAHB) are expected to receive their salary arrears totalling RM337,000, ranging from six to nine months, to be paid in stages.
Representative of former KAHB employees, Mohamad Redzwan Ramlee, said the agreement was reached in negotiations with representatives from the Kedah Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) at the Kedah Labour Department here today.
Redzwan said that based on the agreement reached during the discussion, five months’ salaries will be paid in full to the former employees starting next month, and the remaining arrears will be paid in monthly instalments over two and a half years.
“We thank the MBI representatives for being willing to discuss, and they have agreed that our salary arrears will be paid over two and a half years in monthly instalments,” he told newsmen at the end of the negotiations.
He said the former employees agreed with the solution and considered it the best option for all parties to resolve the issue.
Redzwan said it is also in line with advice given by Human Resources Minister Steven Sim to resolve the matter amicably.
He said they were also happy that Kedah MBI has agreed to settle the payment of termination notice benefits to the 20 KAHB employees terminated before Aidilfitri.
Meanwhile, Kedah MBI chief executive officer Zafir Annuar Ghazali, when contacted, confirmed that the matter had been resolved.
The group of KAHB employees had filed complaints at the Kedah Labour Department after claiming they were not paid salaries for a period ranging from six to nine months.
Early last month, Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor announced that KAHB had ceased operations due to its lack of financial viability. – April 25, 2024