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Labour Dispute No. 1: The Rubber Tapper


 A rubber tapper came to the office to complain his employer had not granted him his annual leave and public holiday pay for the 10 years he had been employed by the employer at his rubber small holding.


When the employer was called to the Office he denied the employee was denied Public Holidays and annual leave. A date for the hearing was set and both parties were notified to bring any witnesses they may have and other proof that can support their stand. 


On the date of conciliation the employer brought some tattered forms as exhibits and his headman to support his case. The workman did not have any documents to champion his case but brought his wife as a witness. She was not helpful as she was a housewife and did not understand the difference between annual leave, rest days and Public Holidays. All she could explain was that the husband stayed home on rainy days and that he does stay home on some days.She was not able to confirm they were annual leave or public holidays. 

The parties could not come to an agreement and sought postponement of the hearing to another date to bring in their own counsel to settle the case. I separated the parties and began talking to them of the costs involved and advised them to compromise and come to negotiate a settlement.


Both the parties agreed to heed my advice and after protracted negotiations an agreement was reached whereby the complainant was offered 25% of his claim.The workman was grumpy and felt the compensation was much less than what was due to him. He was warned that if the case proceeded he may not get anything considering his claim was subject to the statute of limitation and anything in   excess of 6 years would not be allowed. The workman then agreed that the offer was not too bad and consented to settle the dispute at 25% of his claim. Both parties then signed the consent order and left the office smiling.



Image (c)National Museum of Singapore https://www.roots.gov.sg/Collection-Landing/listing/1000911 


Content (c) Ganapathy Ramasamy @ mynameisgana@blogspot.com

Comments

  1. MelissaJuly 17, 2025 at 12:16 AM

    I really enjoy reading your interesting and sometimes humorous blogposts, keep them coming! I am looking forward to your next one ☺️

    ReplyDelete

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