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Divine intervention



 The Labour Office was located on the fringes of the rubber estate. It was an isolated building. The main office was located in the middle of the building

while the “Labor Court” was abutting the main office.The building was a wooden one constructed after World War 2. An assortment of insects were found to be hiding between the cresses  of the timber structure. Snakes too abounded though none of us ventured to find out if their stings were venomous.


The office orderly was a mischievous young lad. He used to bait the scorpions that abounded and put them into a glass bottle as if to warn visitors that the building is infested with scorpions and their entry is at their own risk. He did not have any sample of snakes.There were quite a number of employers who took the warning seriously and often settled the claims of their employees at the front office rather than facing the wrath of the scorpions at the “Labour Court” room. A husband and wife couple - both tappers, filed a claim for unpaid wages, annual leave and Public Holiday pay at the office when they were summarily dismissed for absence of more than two days following an Indian festival. The employee claimed that he had applied for leave to celebrate the festival in the Federal Capital city where the Cave temple was located as he had agreed to pay penance to the Gods for the sins he had committed in the course of the year. None ventured to find out his sins as it was a matter between the employee and his maker. 


The procedure to apply for leave in the smallholding had not been spelt out in any document as the employer had stated that his was a smallholding with just two employees and all that the employees had to do was to ask for verbal permission from him or the Headman. In this case the employer contended that he was not aware of any application for leave. The employee contended that the smallholder did not reside in the smallholding - only the Headman appointed by the smallholder, lived on the estate and all instructions and approvals were conveyed by the Headman. He had applied for leave and the Headman was aware of it as the Headman also was on leave for the same purpose. The tapper saw a scorpion getting close to the employer & declared that the employee  would be bitten by a scorpion if he was lying. When the employee looked at the scorpion again it was poised to strike and moving towards the employer. He raised an alarm and told the employer of the menace near his foot. The employer saw the scorpion and jumped out of his chair in panic. He ran out of the room cursing in Chinese that  the Department should be sued for endangering lives of persons entering the Office. At the front office he inquired how much was the employee claiming and paid the amount promptly. 


He was reported to have said the employee did not deserve the money as he had been absent without leave. However since on this occasion, the employee had saved him from a possible scorpion bite, the employer had no compunction in  paying  him his claim.


All contents (c) Ganapathy Ramasamy, mynameisgana@blogspot.com


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