KUALA LUMPUR: The liquidator of the famed Robinson's departmental store has vehemently rebutted any inappropriate retrenchment of its employees, following the closing of its business, recently.
Chartered accountant Datuk Robert Teo Keng Tuan told the New Straits Times that contrary to an online media report, RSM Malaysia, of which he is chairman, had adhered to the provisions pertaining to the Company's Act 1965 (Revised 1973) (Amended 2016) and the Employment Act 1955.
This, he said, was in relation to the payment of outstanding salary, overtime, commission and unutilised annual leave for the retrenched staff at Robinson & Co (M) Sdn Bhd's two outlets at The Gardens, Mid Valley Megamall and at Four Seasons Place, located next to the Petronas Twin Towers in Jalan Ampang.
The employees were served with termination letters signed by Teo's partner Arul Gunendran on Nov 30 and assured that all outstanding payments would be made by Dec 31 last year.
Teo said the employees had sought clarification with the Labour Department.
"Nevertheless, we engaged and advised them that the termination notices were in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act. Suffice to say, the retrenchment exercise was done accordingly.
"While we sympathise with the retrenched staff, be rest assured that the exercise was not done in a heartless manner. They will be compensated in accordance to the provisions of the Companies Act.
"It is noteworthy to know that we attempted to assist some of the employees to secure alternate jobs with the new business entities at the two said locations," said Teo, who acted as liquidator for Robinsons pursuant to a Creditor's Voluntary Liquidation.
He said closing any business was not a pleasant task, especially one with such a colourful and illustrious history as Robinsons, made all the more disheartening having to lay off many long-serving employees.
Therefore, he expressed dismay at the unfair allegations made by UNI-Malaysia Labour Centre president Datuk Mohamed Shafie B.P. Mammal through the news portal.
Among others, Shafie had questioned if Robinson's closure had followed the due process when it closed its operations in Malaysia last year due to poor sales triggered by the global Covid-19 pandemic.
He had also alleged the company shuttered without giving proper notice and compensation to its employees as per a 1975 tripartite code of conduct between the government, employers' group and unions on how to deal with issues such as labour and retrenchments.
Shafie was also unimpressed by the notice and accused the government of failing to protect workers' rights, especially when the economy was sluggish in view of the current health crisis.
Teo said Shafie and the news portal should have sought clarification from him before making the inappropriate allegations and publishing the news report, which had questioned the credibility and reputability of his 43-year-old firm that specialises in corporate taxation, corporate restructuring exercise and all facets of insolvency administration and assurance services.
"All we have done is carry out the exercise in accordance with the laws of the country. I do not think it could have been done any better.
"We attempted to maximise the situation in accordance with the stakeholders and the staff's welfare in mind, using the best available strategy while ensuring the provisions of the Companies Act are adhered," he said.
He explained that Robinson's was placed in an interim voluntary liquidation on Oct 30 last year and subsequently placed in liquidation on Nov 24, following the creditors meeting.
"As the level of stocks at the two premises were already quite low at the point of voluntary liquidation, it was not feasible to keep operating the premises and incurring high rental costs. Thus, the termination of staff was inevitable," said Teo.
He added that in most liquidations, advance notice was not possible due to the nature of the exercise. However, he said, all claims for salary in lieu of the notice and retrenchment benefits would be calculated and classified as an unsecured claim.
"All salaries, overtime, commission and valid approved claims and unutilised annual leave is a priority claim and will be paid before any payment is made to the unsecured creditors.
"Furthermore, the three-year Collective Agreement between the management and the Robinsons Unions signed in 2015 had expired in 2018," said Teo.
As for the Wages Subsidy, Teo said the allocation ended in September last year prior to the appointment of the liquidator.
The 160-year-old Robinson's, touted as London's Harrods of Malaysia and Singapore, had survived the first and second World Wars, the Great Depression, a fire, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the global financial crisis of the 1990s.
Though it had weathered the storm during the previous recessions and financial crises, it could not withstand the devastating effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic.
Robinson's was a sought-after shopping store for aristocrats, sultans and even King Mongkut of Siam, who was then the most powerful ruler in South-East Asia.
For the record, Robinsons' story began in 1858 when Australian immigrant Philip Robinson and Singapore jailkeeper James Gaborian Spicer initially established the family warehouse as Spicer and Robinson in Singapore.
The outfit was renamed Robinsons & Co less than two years later when Spicier pulled out of the partnership. In 1881, Phillip Robinson died and his son Stamford Raffles Robinson took over the business in 1886.
After World War 2, the Raffles Place store in Singapore reopened in April 1946 and by 1955 Robinson's became the first store in the Far East to be fully air-conditioned. In November 1972, the Raffles Place outlet was razed by a fire, resulting in nine deaths, forcing the store to move to the Specialist's Shopping Centre on Orchard Road.
Following the 1973 oil crisis, the Kuala Lumpur branch on Jalan Mountbatten (now Jalan Tun Perak) closed down in 1975.
Robinson's made a comeback in Kuala Lumpur in 2007 when its new store opened at The Gardens. The second store at Four Seasons Place opened three years ago.