Judicial commissioner Suzana Said said R Yegaraj was in the continuous employment of Kedah Cement Sdn Bhd even when sent abroad on two assignments.

She said Yegaraj’s contract of employment was still subsisting as the agreements entered in connection with the overseas stints did not supersede his employment contract.

Suzana said there were no express provisions to indicate that Yegaraj’s employment contract with Kedah Cement had been terminated by the overseas stints or that the terms had been varied.

“This court finds that there is no merit to warrant appellate intervention,” she said in a 17-page judgment dismissing Kedah Cement’s appeal.

Kedah Cement is a subsidiary of Kedah Cement Holdings Berhad, a wholly owned subsidiary of Malayan Cement Berhad.

Yegaraj was initially employed by Simen Utama Sdn Bhd (SUSB), also a subsidiary of Malayan Cement, as its distribution manager by way of an employment letter dated March 1, 1996.

At the request of Kedah Cement, made in a letter dated June 11, 2009, Yegaraj was sent on international assignment to Cementia Trading AG in Zurich, Switzerland.

On Aug 21, 2015, he was assigned to Holcim Trading Pte Ltd in Singapore as head of shipping and operations on terms similar to the first assignment.

While in Singapore, Yegaraj asked to go on early retirement, a request which was approved and was to take effect on April 30, 2019.

His retirement benefits were calculated at RM701,179.14.

In her judgment issued earlier this week, Susana said that when Yegaraj was initially transferred from SUSB to Kedah Cement on Dec 18,2017, his transfer letter expressly provided that the terms and conditions contained in his SUSB appointment letter would continue to apply.

“The facts also clearly show that this was an assignment of work and not a new employment,” she said.

Further, she said, Kedah Cement’s assignment of Yegaraj to the two foreign companies was an act which showed the company had control over him.

Suzana said evidence was also led of three instances where the company’s employees were paid retirement benefits despite being assigned abroad.

“Thus, the sessions court judge was right when deciding that on a balance of probabilities, the respondent (Yegaraj) had succeeded in proving his case against the appellant (Kedah Cement),” she said.

In addition to retirement benefits of RM701,179.14, the sessions court had ordered the company to pay Yegaraj RM20,000 in damages.

The company has filed an appeal.