JUDGMENT

Lee Swee Seng JCA:

[1] Three employees of Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd ("Perodua/the Company") found themselves in a quandary. They had all served between 9 and 22 years with the Company, one being employed as a mechanic and the other two as service advisors. Together with some 20 other employees in Perodua's Branch in Bukit Beruntung and its Sales Service Centre in Sungai Choh, Rawang, they were each given a letter explaining that one Nagoya Automobile Malaysia ("NAM") had taken over Perodua's business operations at Bukit Beruntung and Sungai Choh. The letter further stated that they should take up the employment offer made by NAM.

[2] Like most contracts and correspondences, the devil is in the details. Upon closer scrutiny of the relevant documents, it became apparent that all employees taking up the offer would be engaged for a fixed term of 2 years and they would first be required to tender their resignation from Perodua. After the 2-year term with NAM is over, NAM would have the sole discretion whether to retain them and if not, it would appear that they would have to reapply to Perodua and the Company would then decide whether they would be taken back as that decision would depend on availability of vacancies and the needs of Perodua then.