Sazali Yaacob, Arbae Mokhtar and Fdydzulhelky Muhammod Tohirrudin alleged that Cisco (M) Sdn Bhd paid them less than their minimum wages for a six-month period, plus reduced overtime (OT).

The trio worked in two different schools in Rantau Panjang, Klang, for between four and nine years.

They took their case to the labour department’s tribunal in June, but it was dismissed on July 26.

Sazali and Fdydzulhelky, who were present at the High Court here for their appeal, said their pay was cut after Cisco took over the security services from a previous company in February last year.

Sazali, who worked at a Chinese primary school for about four years, said he was paid RM900 by the former security company.

“When Cisco took over, we were treated like new staff and paid 30% less than our RM900 minimum wage.

“How can they categorise us as new and put us under probation when we had been working as security guards for a long time?” he said.

Sazali also claimed he and Arbae were dismissed by Cisco after they filed the appeal.

“They were not happy that we went against the company by filing a case in court.

“They see it as I am no longer interested to work with them.”

Fdydzulhelky, on the other hand, said he had not suffered the same fate as his friends as he was only given a warning letter by his employer.

“I was said to have left my working centre during my shift hours,” he said.

When asked if they were prepared to go through a long legal battle, both said they were mentally prepared.

Fdydzulhelky added: “We are doing this for our friends who may suffer the same fate as us, and we do not wish to see them being cheated.”

The High Court registrar fixed Dec 8 for case management and a decision on whether to allow the three men an extension of time to file their submissions beyond the deadline.

Lawyer Dinesh Muthal, who represented the trio, said they were late in filing their court documents as they had not received the tribunal’s judgment and had not previously engaged any lawyers.