Help, advice on employment situation (or escape from KL)

[almostchristian]

After starting work in Kuala Lumpur a few weeks ago, an employer in Singapore gave me an interview and was impressed by me and offered me a job there. The only reason I entertained the interview was because I was in contact with the Singapore agency before starting my work in Kuala Lumpur. So they offered me a job with a competitive salary that I couldn't refuse so I gave my resignation to my KL company only they refused to accept my resignation (is that possible??). So now, I plan to resign unilaterally (e.g. go AWOL). But the problem is my KL employer still holds my passport, as they are processing my Malaysian employment pass, so I can't leave until I get it. Thats when I realized they were taking shortcuts with my employment. I have been working for 1 month without a valid employment pass which is illegal in Malaysia.

So my question is will I run into any troubles when I get to Singapore? I will most definitely have a Malaysian employment pass on my passport when I get it back, will that pose a problem when I get my Singapore employment pass? I already have an In-principle approval letter for employment pass. Also, what other option do I have? My employer is hell-bent on not accepting my resignation.

[ecureilx]

I have been working for 1 month without a valid employment pass which is illegal in Malaysia. .

Malaysia boleh

Perfectly legal ..

BTW, where would you be from, if I may ask ?

You can have slash and dash, but, in the future, you may have other problems ..

and why would you tell the employer about your Singapore opportunity ??

[almostchristian]

Hi, I'm from the Philippines.

I never told my employer about my Singapore opportunity. I just told them that I was homesick as my reason for resignation.

[ecureilx]

Hi, I'm from the Philippines.

I never told my employer about my Singapore opportunity. I just told them that I was homesick as my reason for resignation.

Are you registered with POEA ?

[almostchristian]

Perfectly legal ..

My Filipino friends here told me that it was not allowed. Even the letter that says my EP is being processed says that it doesn't allow me to start working. Is there a change in the laws?

[almostchristian]

My employer says that they are using an agency to process my POEA for me

[nakatago]

POEA or OWWA?

Either way, you better do some research as our beloved government just loves making things easy for us. /sarcasm

Moreover, if you think your company's doing something illegal, find a way to clear things so you could get away.

If MOM gave you an IPA, most probably Singapore's not a problem; it's Malaysia that you need to worry about and you don't want to do something that will bite you in the arse in the future.

[ecureilx]

Perfectly legal ..

My Filipino friends here told me that it was not allowed. Even the letter that says my EP is being processed says that it doesn't allow me to start working. Is there a change in the laws?

when I said Perfectly Legal, in Malaysia, I meant with pun .. hence my Malaysia Boleh

Since the paperwork in Malaysia is all over the place a lot of employers consider it normal to employ a person while the pass is settled, and a lot of time, passes get issued for 3 MONTHS, and then their immigration keeps renewing every 3 months ..

That doesn't mean knowingly you can violate the law .. oh, when it suits, they can make it illegal ..

If you have not done POEA registration, you may be at a dead end in seeking legal assistance, The Phil Embassy maybe happy to send you back and claim you are an undocumented worker, rescued ...

I would suggest you work it out with your employer and get out legally ..

nakatago: don't you need the POEA/OWWA paperwork settled before even you fly out to work ?? I think our friend will be screwed twice, if he seeks embassy help .. what do you think ??

[almostchristian]

If MOM gave you an IPA, most probably Singapore's not a problem; it's Malaysia that you need to worry about and you don't want to do something that will bite you in the arse in the future.

What is the worst I could expect? I could avoid going to Malaysia. I imagine the worst problem would be POEA or OWWA. I guess that should mean I stay away from the Philippines until I have that settled. That would give me an excuse to avoid going home and having to give pasalubong every one of my extended family

[ecureilx]

What is the worst I could expect? I could avoid going to Malaysia. I imagine the worst problem would be POEA or OWWA. I guess that should mean I stay away from the Philippines until I have that settled. That would give me an excuse to avoid going home and having to give pasalubong every one of my extended family

I like your spirit .. but .. if you don't get your passport, you need to report to the Embassy (somewhere near Rajah Chulan) .. and then they will issue a replacement passport, and .. if you are not questioned, you are good to go ..

But, if the embassy staff are bored, they will ask you back on your status in Malaysia .. and will be very eager to repatriate you .. whether you like it or not ..

And, add to it, you need to get a 'fixer' to fix the Malaysian immigration exit ..

Nothing is impossible, maybe somebody who knows more than could advice you ..

BTW: Pasalubong ? Wouldn't you need to be earning to buy Pasalubong ??

[almostchristian]

BTW: Pasalubong ? Wouldn't you need to be earning to buy Pasalubong ??

Haha, you don't know my extended family. They would expect a pasalubong even if I was rescued from kidnappers in the jungles of Africa.

I guess I'll just play this by ear. Can't wait to go to a crowded bar. Bukit Bintang has nothing on Clarke Quay.

[nakatago]

BTW: Pasalubong ? Wouldn't you need to be earning to buy Pasalubong ??

Haha, you don't know my extended family. They would expect a pasalubong even if I was rescued from kidnappers in the jungles of Africa.

I guess I'll just play this by ear. Can't wait to go to a crowded bar. Bukit Bintang has nothing on Clarke Quay.

Ever since I got here, I've actively NOT spend Christmas back home. I also directed by immediate family not to publicize when I do go home.

Back to the original topic: That's the problem with out lot. We always take the cavalier attitude of "everything be damned; I'll just run away and avoid going back."

Aside from being reckless, it also opens you up to a lot of liability with tangible consequences. You can say you'll just not go back to Malaysia but you can never tell when you have to. To illustrate, just search the threads here for those who try to escape NS. They could just say they'll never go back to Singapore but being a major transportation hub, they can never tell when a flight will transit here. It may be an extreme case but Malaysia's no backwater country either so you'll never know if you need to step into the country again (as it turns out, a lot of airlines transit at KL as well).

Follow ecureilx's advice: strive for a clean break.

[nakatago]

nakatago: don't you need the POEA/OWWA paperwork settled before even you fly out to work ??

It's an artificial requirement set by the Philippine government. It's supposed to help OFW's but as you might have guessed, it mutated into something corrupt.

That said, I got here without going through POEA. And I only applied for OWWA membership after three months (I need the damned thing so I could get OECs so I can exit the Philippines to come back here in Singapore to work whenever I go home).

About contacting the embassy, now that I've thought about it, they'd probably be incompetent. Yup, he should settle it with his employer.

Moreover, the only persons I know here who are familiar with how Malaysia does things are Mad Scientist (probably out saving the world) and Vaucluse (gone without a trace). This is a Singpore expats forum, afterall.

[almostchristian]

I just wanted to know if I'll have problems going to Singapore, and from what has been said, it shouldn't be an issue.

Now, my status in Malaysia is only tricky because my employer is actively refusing to accept my resignation but it should be clear cut according to malaysian labor laws. The law states (from what I've read, if I'm not missing something) that I can break my contract without notice by giving them two months salary. I shall submit my notice once again to make it clear that there is no way I can continue to work for them. This time, I'll refuse any meetings (which I think was my mistake the first time). Am I required to get an approval from the employer to resign? There wasn't any mention in my contract about anything like that.

[ecureilx]

I just wanted to know if I'll have problems going to Singapore, and from what has been said, it shouldn't be an issue.

I dunno about Malaysian Law, but, in Singapore, the employer has to confirm acceptance of the resignation to notify MOM .. or MOM will insist you come back 30 days after submitting resignation .. and copy MOM in case employer still decides to ignore it ..

As for the issue, I saw that you said the employer is holding your passport .. so how would you solve that ??

And as I said, if you visit Phil Embassy at Rajah Chulan, to claim that your passport is missing, they will be more keen to catch you with your missing OWWA registration ..

and then the Malaysian immigration has to be kind enough to let you depart minus your missing entry in your passport .... stranger things have happened in Malaysia though ..