The former staff members, who requested anonymity, said the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom), which issues the ASP, and the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) use prompt payment of salaries and EPF contributions as indicators of an ASP applicant’s financial health.
CAAM suspended SAS’s air operator certificate (AOC) for three months on March 12 after the company failed to secure a renewal of its ASP when it expired on Feb 29.
Yesterday, Mavcom said the company had not applied to renew its ASP, despite the suspension ending next Wednesday.
One source, who claimed to have checked online as recently as today with the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) and EPF, said his contributions are still not reflected as paid.
It is understood that some 100 staff have left the company’s employment over the past four years.
They said the unpaid sums for several senior employees run into hundreds of thousands of ringgit each, and that official complaints have been lodged several times with LHDN and EPF.
“We face problems when declaring our annual tax returns, with the schedular tax deductions (STD) showing up as nil on our forms. That means we owe LHDN the whole amount.
“Since there is evidence that the STD has not been remitted to LHDN, we don’t have to pay anything for now, but the authorities must act to get us out of this mess created by the company,” the source told FMT.
Another source said EPF had sent a legal notice through its lawyers last August, demanding a total of more than RM5 million of the workers’ and employer’s contributions from 2019 to last year.
According to the letter sighted by FMT, EPF had given SAS two weeks to settle outstanding payments together with dividends and a late penalty payment, or face action.
“We have all been checking our accounts and with EPF officers. They have not settled the outstanding deductions. This is a serious violation and I wonder why no action is being taken,” he said.
An EPF spokesman said it will not be able to comment as the matter is an ongoing legal process.
A Mavcom spokesman declined to comment.
FMT has also reached out to SAS CEO Ida Adora Ismail and LHDN for verification of the claims.