According to the workers who say they were contacted through phone messages, those staying outside Genting have been asked to exhaust their leave while others staying at the resort quarters and dormitories must take 50% of what they have left.

One worker claimed they have been told to exhaust their annual leave and if they have fewer than 30 days remaining, they would have to take unpaid leave until the end of June.

“The management has been calling us over the last couple of days to submit the leave applications. If we fail to do so, they want us to return to the highlands immediately. They told us we will be redeployed to do other tasks as the casinos are closed,” a worker told FMT.

He said there were four Covid-19 positive cases reported in the resort on Saturday, which makes it dangerous for them to return to the highland.

Another worker said this was unfair as the human resources ministry had emphasised many times that workers cannot be forced to take annual or no-pay leave during movement control orders, adding that the workers have gone back to their homes throughout the country.

He said the workers were extremely upset that such a wealthy company, which had amassed huge profits from the hard work of its employees, is treating them in this manner when times get rough.

“It’s not that we were getting super high salaries anyway. Don’t they understand the workers are the company’s strength and they are needed when everything returns to normalcy? I hope they stop pushing us around like this,” he said.

Genting Bhd senior vice-president (human resources) Tan Boo Chuan said: “We have not issued any employee communication and it (action) will be in line with the government SOPs.”