The Young Lawyers Movement (YLM) said that when the first MCO was implemented in March last year, there were complaints of young lawyers being forced to take salary cuts.

There were also those who were forced to resign as firms attempted to cut costs and lower overheads.

In expressing regret over such incidences, YLM said law firms should protect the livelihood of their associates and pupils in chambers as they had “pledged allegiance, fidelity and service to the firms” with hopes of building a career.

“Retrenchment should also be a last resort by firms and they should adhere to the principles of last-in-first-out and make sure they try all cost cutting measures first before resorting to retrenchment.

“Among cost cutting measures that firms can take are a freeze on the purchase of new assets like company cars, furniture and office equipment and a freeze on allowances to firm personnel as we now embrace the work from home (WFH) culture,” it said in a statement.

It went on to urge young lawyers who are under a contract to take up their disputes to the Industrial Court if they had to endure a forced salary cut or were forced to resign.

On Monday, the government announced that five states and the federal territories will come under a 14-day MCO following the recent surge in Covid-19 cases.

The five states are Selangor, Penang, Melaka, Johor, Sabah and the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya.