Most people want better benefits, be it from the company they are working in or from the government they are paying taxes to. A better work life balance, more subsidies, and getting paid without working hard. Sounds like a dream, isn’t it? Maybe that is why some people are moving out from their home countries in Asia for greener pastures in Australia and New Zealand (to name a few).

Better benefits are always good but better benefits also tend to make things difficult for companies.

Better benefits = employee market

Not-so-good benefits = employer market

That’s why I wasn’t surprised when the cab driver in Sydney told me about the lack of jobs in Australia. A lot of multinational companies (including Australia based companies) are moving out from Australia. Their destination? Countries where the government doesn’t protect the citizens that much – Vietnam, China, Malaysia, etc. Why? Well, for one, it creates less problems and fuss. You don’t get lawsuits from your own employees, accusing your company for not providing ergonomic chair (for example). And most importantly, you get hardworking employees for lesser price. Good bargain eh?

Bargain or not, it’s not up to us to decide. What matters to us is that, this migration of companies is fast becoming a popular trend in our world. Lesser job opportunities in countries with good benefits and strong labor law, and more job opportunities in countries with not-so-good benefits, cheaper labor, and weak (or non-existing) labor law enforcement, albeit the fact that many good and talented people are moving the opposite direction.

So the next time you think your country’s labor law is not protecting you enough or your government and company are not giving you sufficient benefits, maybe you should think that it could be a blessing in disguise.

One of the biggest taboos while working for people is to talk bad about your boss about your salary publicly especially when your colleagues are around. However, there will be times when something as confidential as salary, is being broadcast or informed to the wrong parties. The result? Dissatisfaction among employees.

Let’s be honest, most people are not content with what they have and that includes their salary. And most people also think that they are the one working harder than most of the people in the team. So when the news of a peer/colleague receiving a promotion or a higher salary than themselves, all sorts of negative feelings will appear.

“Why is that idiot getting higher salary than me when all he does is talk talk talk?”

“Why is the new guy getting the promotion ahead of old employees like us?”

“Why is he getting a higher increment when our job role is the same?”

Questions like these will keep popping up in the head all the time. It’s normal. After all, we’ve put in so much hard work for the company and it seems like we’re not being appreciated (funnily, some people who always spend their office hours chatting and Facebook-ing also think they’re not being appreciated enough). I’ve been through that before on a couple of occasions and man, I was pretty pissed back then.

But things have changed, and I believe I’ve changed.

Over the years, I’ve given much thought on this issue and I can tell you it’s a very common issue which exists in every organization. But rather than making my life miserable by asking myself questions which I could not answer, I prefer to ask myself a few questions and also try my best to answer them HONESTLY (without any discrimination and with extreme fairness + calmness). It wouldn’t help if you answer these questions when you’re jealous of some people.

• Is the guy really better than me? Or perhaps my performance is actually not-so-good?
• Is there anything I can do to match him or even better than him?
• How much time do I have left until the next performance evaluation? I need to use those time to improve myself.
• Is there a need to talk to my supervisor regarding this? Maybe my supervisor is not happy with something I did which I’m not aware of? Remember, this is to have an honest heart-to-heart talk with your supervisor and not a confrontation.
• Maybe your supervisor has some ideas on how you can perform better in the future?
• Perhaps there are something which this guy has to do, without your knowledge? Maybe he really did go that extra mile?
• Will you be happy after the promotion or the increment? Will you be happy with your new job role or you rather stay where you are now? After all, money is not everything.
• How much is this affecting your mood and overall well-being? Do you think you’re wasting too much time thinking about something you have no answer of?
• And most importantly, do you think there is something that you can really do to change the situation?

Among those questions above, I find the last 2 to be the most important question. If there is really nothing you can do to change the situation, then why do you even bother to think about it? If there IS indeed something that you can do, then do it and change the situation. Get out from that emotional hell you’ve put yourselves into.

For me, even though I know there are people who earn more than me, I don’t really think much about it. Perhaps they are indeed better than me in certain aspects of things. All I can do is to commit myself to do my work, and to get the expected reward from my company. The important thing is that the company or my supervisor should appreciate what I do, and I myself must like what I do.

Whether the company appreciate that guy’s work more than mine, is not really something I can control.

And when I think there’s really no other option for me…..then I might just go find another job and find someone who I think will really appreciate me.

Remember, it’s not worth torturing yourselves by feeling lousy or bad especially on things that you have no answer to. If it’s within your control, then change it. If not, then just ignore it.

DISCLAIMER — i don’t Facebook that much in office. Nothing much in there except other people’s photos. =_=

Many of my friends have been troubled by this question lately. Some of them are planning to leave their respective company, but are completely clueless whether they have been confirmed or not. And there are also some who are afraid they might be terminated without warning because there’s no news of their probation period.

That is the reason why I’m writing this article and I do hope that this simple article can clear some of your doubts.

The first thing you should do is to check your employment agreement. Different companies have different policies so this is not standard across the country.

For those with employment agreement which says that the probation period will be extended unless being told otherwise, it means that if you are not being given the confirmation letter, you will be regarded as someone who is still under probation. If your probation period has ended, please please please ensure you know the status of your employment with the company. This is because if they do not confirm you, there should be a letter which informs you that the probation period has been extended.

But by default, an employee will be automatically confirmed even if there is no confirmation letter. This is based on my conversation with few friends in the Human Resource sectors. Unless, you have a special clause like “your probation period will be extended unless being informed otherwise”. Then it’s a different story.

Again, I must stress that different companies have different policies. As far as I know, most companies practice the default policy where any employee under probation will be automatically confirmed after the probation period has ended, even without any confirmation letter.

So, do take note of the change in notice periods because once you’re being confirmed, the notice period will become significantly longer.

Hope it helps and do correct me if I’m wrong.

If you still have some doubts, please feel free to contact the labor department.

Contact number for local labour offices in Malaysia

or simply go to the official web site.

Labour Department Peninsular Malaysia

The answer : Yes and No.

Yes if

• You are being tied under an employment contract which does not allow you to leave. I was in such a contract during my fresh graduate time – a 6 month contract which would require me to pay the money back (6 months salary) to the company if I were to leave.
• You have a bond with the company. This is usually activated if the company sends you for trainings. Be careful of such bonds because some of them can be ridiculously unfair.
• Or there is/are clauses in your employment contract which does not allow you to leave the company. Always read the employment letter properly before signing.

Otherwise, it’s a big NO. Companies do not have any right to stop you from resigning as long as you

• Serve the notice period.
• Pay back any money which you owe the company – bonds, notice periods, etc.

The reason I’m writing this post is because there are people who actually asked me what should they do if their bosses do not allow them to resign. Fact is, your bosses cannot stop you from resigning under normal circumstances. The labor law is on your side this time.

So for those inexperienced people, don’t worry. You should serve your notice period on the day you submit your resignation letter. Again, this is under normal circumstances and assuming you don’t have any debts/loans/bonds with the company.

If you are not sure, feel free to contact the labor department.

Contact number for local labour offices in Malaysia

or simply go to the official web site.

Labour Department Peninsular Malaysia

p/s… if you’re dealing with recruiters/headhunters, consult them because they know the labor law pretty well and they know how to deal with such situations.

During my trip to Penang, a good friend of mine told me that some of his friends have been asked to take forced leave by their companies. This is not normal forced leave, but forced unpaid leave. I was shocked. My immediate response was “Isn’t that equivalent to terminating them, but without compensating them?”

It is. By forcing these employees to go on unpaid leave, the employers are indirectly forcing them to resign. After all, who can live without getting paid for so long especially when everything is so expensive now. By making them resign on their free will, the employers do not need to pay any form of compensation. Pretty good deal right?

But can the employers actually force the employees to take unpaid leave?

It’s very subjective.

Anyway, based on my conversation with some friends in the HR field, my sister and my father, here are some of the factors which might be associated with this.

• The company can come out with a memo which requires a selected group of (or all) employees to take forced leave. If you have no annual leave (usually those under probation), then you will have to take unpaid leave.
• The company has such records in the past and does not mind its image and reputation being tarnished.
• The company is trying to get rid of a large group of people but not willing to pay the compensation.
• If you are a contract staff, you might not have any annual leave and by forcing you to take leave, it is indirectly asking you to take forced unpaid leave.
• Some employment contracts do not allow the employee or employer to end the contract without mutual consent. However, the employer can requires the contract employee to take forced unpaid leave as a mean to terminate the contract.

The points above are based on my opinions and might not be entirely correct. However, I truly believe that contract staff is the group of people who is most vulnerable to this “scheme”. For permanent staff, the companies supposedly cannot ask you to go on forced unpaid leave (unless you no longer have annual leave) for an extended period of time.

At the end of the day, it is best to save your annual leave if possible and read the terms & conditions of your employment letter THOROUGHLY. If you have any doubts, refer to your HR, lawyers or call the labor department for help.

Last but not least, all the best and hopefully this kind of thing will not happen to any of you. It has already happened to some people, but I’m not sure about the actual situation. If you know anyone who has experienced this, feel free to drop a comment here. I’m sure most of us want to know what actually happened.

Hope it helps.