The company said in a statement that there had been “violent sorting of packages on Feb 4” at the sorting hub because certain workers were not clear about a bonus payment scheme, causing “some employees to make collective disturbances, and posting the videos to social media”.

The statement referred to “Netizens’ Complaints – J&T Employees Stealing Food and Drinks From Packages” after photos had been circulated on social media of customers receiving packages with partially consumed food.

The company said the incidents were “indeed a fault in our management” and were the result of temporary workers being hired to handle the increased volume of parcels and who were “only provided simple training”.

J&T said: “We have formulated special regulations and management methods for settlement of claims and supervision of similar incidents, and fast settlement of lost packages”.

A 15-second video clip widely circulated online showed several workers at the sorting hub throwing parcels and boxes in a dispute over payment. Social media users, worried about the damage to their shipments, lashed out at the workers’ behaviour.

J&T said “our Perak state management immediately handled and clarified the incident” and the workers returned to work normally the next day, “and actively sorted and processed the packages of customers”.

The company apologised for the shortcomings of its internal management which had caused dissatisfaction and losses to customers, and said it would “bear all responsibilities, quickly improve our management and service standards, and provide professional training to our employees”.