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What's Up With The Whole J&T Courier Drama? We Explain What Happened
Over the weekend, recordings of staff at J&T courier mishandling packages and damaging them at the company's facility made their way online.
The clip, which was originally uploaded on TikTok, went viral on other social media as well.
In the 15-second video, workers wearing J&T T-shirts can be seen screaming and throwing parcels into piles.Nak mengadu pergi lah pejabat buruh, jangan lah campak barang customers ?? pic.twitter.com/rOEW1krG3H— ?? (@imrannazri__) February 6, 2021
This, of course, led to complaints by many whose items were damaged or were concerned by what happened.
Antara customer yang mengadu dapat barang rosak.J&T akan delete komen-komen ni ? pic.twitter.com/tGQP8Njhuv— The Exalted One (@Jackvladamir) February 7, 2021
Why would anyone do that?
The initial story that came up when the video went viral is that the staff were protesting a wage cut by J&T.It was alleged that the courier company reduced part-time staff's commission from the original RM1 or RM1.50 (the numbers varied between people who were talking about the issue) per package delivered.
Under the new payment scheme, full-time staff who are paid RM1,200 only allegedly received RM0.30 commission for each package.
Instagram page The Loud Asians made a useful infographic explaining the issue, and you can check it out below:
Differing opinions
Malaysians, being the opiniated people we are, had a lot to say about the issue.While some were angry at the actions of the staff who destroyed the properties of those who had done them no wrong, others said that sometimes people have to be disruptive to be heard.
More reasons to not use J&T for the time being. Mogok je la, jangan libatkan barang customers :( https://t.co/odQyWftYC6— Anis Ashaari (@AnisAshaari) February 6, 2021
I recently resigned to start my own small business. I use J&T sbb murah & good service. Hantar harini, esok sampai. But recently, 2 barang dah pecah & tiga "somewhere kat hub".. this truly hurts my biz rep. By all means, mogok la kat mgt. Tapi barang2 tu my hard earned money ok.. https://t.co/0yL7ucpZiA— Puteri Aisyah (@Pu3Aisyah) February 6, 2021
So J&T staffs mogok and mishandled customer goods based on the vid. I tell you how to mogok, whole kampung no need come to work, just dont hentam customers good..— Loki (@aaronkepa) February 6, 2021
Re J&T ExpressOne of the most effective mogok in recent time. Kacau semua pihak termasuklah customer and tiba2 semua orang ambil peduli. At the end of the day, the end justify the means.— amir 1 (@AmirWanMohd) February 8, 2021
Mogok only works when those in power (or have indirect power) are hurt or inconvenienced. Otherwise, no one will care.It's on us with the indirect power in this context (as buyers and sellers) to hold J&T accountable and to take care of their employees better.— Sharrif ?? (@Sharrif) February 7, 2021
Sounds like 'gajah dengan gajah gaduh, pelanduk mati di tengah' kind of situation.Why on earth would j&t reduce commission when u sgt la untung time pkp ni coz everyone is buying online? Mmg patut la dorang mogok. Doa org teranaya makbul tau ✨ https://t.co/sAgtAINYJS— Melursam (@melursam) February 7, 2021
Of course, a company like J&T is the much more powerful elephant in this situation compared to their staff but you get what we mean, right?
J&T's response
Since the video went viral, J&T has released a press release explaining their side of the story.According to the press release, the protest stemmed from a "misunderstanding" of some of the company's staff in their Perak branch over bonus payment.
“J&T has given employees year-end bonuses after comprehensive consideration, in accordance with the bonus rules and regulations, and in accordance with the Malaysian Labour Law, full bonuses are paid to employees who have worked for a year. For employees who have worked for less than a year, bonuses are paid according to the length of working time without prejudice.
“Unfortunately, certain employees are not clear about the bonus payment scheme which led to violent sorting of packages on February 4, inciting some employees to make collective disturbances and posting the videos to social media,” the company said in the statement.
The company also promised to compensate customers whose parcels were damaged. “This is indeed a fault in our management. We have formulated special regulations and management methods for settlement of claims and supervision of similar incidents, and fast settlement of lost packages. We are grateful to the public for their love and support for J&T,” it said.
J&T also admitted that with higher volume of parcels received since the pandemic started, the company has hired temporary staff to meet the demands but only basic training were given to the new staff.
The company said it will rectify this shortcoming.
Since then, the staff involved in the protest have also come up with a video apologising for the incident and saying that J&T were not shortchanging their staff.
The first thing you should do when you agree to employment is get a legal, written contract.
@umiselama♬ original sound - Umi Selama
What can you do if you feel your company is shortchanging you?
The first thing you should do when you agree to employment is get a legal, written contract. This is a given most times when you're a permanent staff especially, but even if you're only working part time or taking up a freelance project, be sure to have some kind of black and white document that states the agreed upon wages among other things.
Once there is a contract, employers are obligated to pay you the amount agreed upon except under special circumstances (we'll get to that in a bit).
If you find your pay getting cut without prior notice or for no reason that you could agree to, you should first speak to the Human Resources department and management to clear the issue.
In the event that both parties cannot agree with the reason for the pay cut, you can bring the case to the Industrial Court for breach of contract.
The case will fall under Section 30(5) of the Industrial Relations Act 1967.
There's also a law under National Salary Consultative Council Act 2011 that states that it is illegal for companies to shortchange their staff and the company can be fined for doing so. Some of the exception to wage cut is if it is within what's allowed legally (i.e. when EPF or SOCSO deductions are made), the company is going through a hard time financially and other reasons that is deemed reasonable by the courts.
While protests and strikes are an effective way to spotlight issues, there are other recourses that can be tried first as well.
If you ever face similar issue in the future, remember that you have legal rights and avenue that you can pursue.
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