KUALA LUMPUR: For nine months in 2019, Syahirah (not her real name) dedicated her time and energy to writing for her company's website until the day she resigned.
That was when she discovered that her real struggle had only just begun.
She said her final month's salary was withheld and despite repeated attempts to seek answers, her calls and messages to her employer went largely unanswered.
With the intervention of the Labour Department, she received her wages three months later. Her pending claims, however, remain unpaid.
"There was almost no communication at all. I only remember going back and forth to the Labour Department in Kuala Lumpur, trying to chase what was rightfully mine," she told the New Straits Times.
At the time, she had car loans and household bills piling up.
The months-long delay pushed her into a tight financial corner.
"Thankfully, my husband stepped in where he could, and I had a small freelance gig that helped me stay afloat," she said.
Her experience is echoed by Rokiah, 34, who said she was forced to live on credit cards after her former employer repeatedly delayed salary payments, sometimes paying only in the middle of the month.
"I had no choice but to use credit cards, and now I am in debt. Three years later, I am still trying to settle the outstanding payments," said the Kuala Lumpur-based writer.
She said the company was barely a year old when the salary delays began, and she endured the situation for another year before deciding to leave.
Despite raising the issue with her heads of department, she said no solution was ever offered.
"Only after I resigned did I realise that the company had not been crediting my monthly tax deductions to my Inland Revenue Board account or contributing to the Social Security Organisation and Employees' Provident Fund. Even my employee contributions were not deposited," she said, adding that the company remains in operation.
Rokiah said she has since lodged reports with the relevant authorities, hoping no one else will face the same ordeal.
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