Disclaimer: In Real Life is a platform for everyday people to share their experiences and voices. All articles are personal stories and do not necessarily echo In Real Life’s sentiments.
This story is about a Malaysian remote employee whose US employer suddenly stopped paying his salary without any reason given.
It was a typical Malaysian Tuesday evening. The sun had set a few hours ago and I opened the window, letting the cool night air in. The day had been panas giler. But since I work from home for a US-based company, I work nights.
Yes, I had found every Malaysian’s dream job: 100% remote, working from home, with a salary of USD3000 (RM14,000) a month. I’d been with them for about two months (February 2024), and was confident that I would pass the three-month probation and get my increment of USD500 too!
I was unable to access my company’s communication channels.
I was frowning at my computer screen, though: I could not log in to any of my work-related software suites or tools: Kanban, JIRA, Trello, Slack, Unreal 3D, or Unity. None of my login credentials worked.
I was confused; it didn’t make sense that everything would be down for maintenance or upgrades simultaneously. I tried to log in to my email which is a separate system, only to be told that my account did not exist. What was going on?
Early March: Blackout.
I reached out to several of my Malaysian colleagues using their personal numbers. Imagine my surprise when I was added to a group chat where all 7 of us, including our team leader, were present.
Everyone had the same problem: All passwords were blocked with no access.
Our team leader, Tasriff, was pretty calm about things, saying someone had probably turned off or changed some setting somewhere, and it just needed to be reset.
Tasriff called his supervisor, “Tom Dickensen,” (anonymised), who was in Florida, only to be informed by the company’s primary Project Manager that Mr. Dickensen was no longer employed at the company.
Mid-March: Financial Bankruptcy.
In the end, Tasriff found Tom via his personal number and was given a whole sordid story: The company had been having financial problems for the past six months due to mismanagement and infighting amongst the senior leadership.
The Malaysian team had been hired within a few days of each other to take over and complete all of the tasks of the fired US-based programming team because, in a nutshell, we were cheaper. Tom was the exception: he was supposed to train and get the Malaysia team up to speed and complete the project.
Tom’s salary had not been paid since February of 2024. He had been job hunting and given his two weeks’ notice, which he served before he left. He had no idea why the Malaysian team’s access had been revoked.
I immediately checked my bank account and realized I had not received my March salary. That was in early April, and everyone else was in the same boat with March salaries unpaid, and we were all still technically employed but with no company cloud access to do any work!
Tasriff sent emails to HR, which he cc’ed to the entire team. Then he arranged a Zoom meeting, where he delivered the bad news: He would stick around until the end of April to get paid hopefully, but he was starting his job search and suggested that all of us do the same.
April: Freelancing and Side Hustles.
Given the situation, I assumed the worst and immediately turned on every freelancer website (Upwork, freelancer.com, and Fiver) and side hustle apps (Grab, Go-Get, Lalamove). I updated my CV and posted it to all the job boards and forums.
Then I emailed Human Resources resources to ask where my March 2024 salary was and why all my access had been revoked. I got a vague reply in mid-April stating that I would be paid at the end of the month. It also stated that my access would be restored (it was) so I could keep working.
I didn’t trust the vagueness of the reply, which came from an “inquiries.hr” email address instead of an actual person. I did the bare minimum amount of work and refocused my energy on the job search and freelance work.
May: “Labouring” the Situation.
The Malaysian team met on Labour Day over coffee at Starbucks in Sunway Pyramid to discuss our ironic ‘labour’ situation. We all confirmed that no one had been paid for March or April, and everyone was now looking for positions elsewhere.
Tasriff sent his resignation to the “inquiries.hr” email on the 7th of May and cc’ed the entire team. His email stated that his resignation was “effective immediately” because of nonpayment of March and April salaries. The entire team resigned by the end of that week in May.
The Financial Cost and Mental Damage.
Because of Tasriff’s quick thinking, while we were all out two months’ salary, at least we had been getting the job hunt and side hustling started when things started to sour at the company. Most of us have managed to find something.
My savings took a hard hit as I lived on that for the first half of April before I had made enough hustling and freelancing to make ends meet. So, while I’m not saving anything, at least I’m able to pay all my bills.
The greatest toll has been on my mental health because there were a few weeks when all I had were my savings and nothing else to fall back on. I had no appetite, I started having stomach problems, inability to sleep, and anxiety that degraded into a full-blown panic attack several times.
I saw a therapist at PPUM, who put me on some medication to help control the anxiety and help me sleep at night. The therapist I spoke to was also quick to point out that my situation had potential advantages too:
If the company pays and my access is restored, I just continue working. Otherwise, I will keep hustling to find a new job, and there will be no gap in my work history. I guess there’s a silver lining of some sort.
Mid-May: The End Game.
I actually heard back from an actual company representative because before I resigned, I had taken a copy of all the work I did in March and April and DELETED everything on the servers. They wanted that work that they have not paid me for. Why should they have it?
I also left a 1-star review on Glassdoor and spoke to the recruiter who headhunted me for the position. She did not believe me until I forwarded her the emails and screenshots of the WhatsApp conversations.
Funnily enough, I got a call from someone claiming to be a company representative in late May. They made another empty promise that I would be paid in full at the end of May, asked me to remove my negative Glassdoor review, and wanted the work I had done in March and April.
Know Your Worth and Fight for Your Rights.
We’ve all heard and read horror stories about Malaysian companies treating Malaysians badly. Sadly, foreign employers can also do the same. I know my rights, and in this case, I also know I can’t do much about it because of the distance involved.
Equal parts frustrated and angry, I lost my temper. I snapped back that the company had no goodwill to trade on, and when I was paid, I would take down the review.
This American company is mistreating its remote workers, and I’m not paid enough to hire a lawyer who can fight and win on American soil. The worst part? They know this, and they got away with it.
I spoke to my recruiter, and they have blacklisted the company. I left a negative review on Glassdoor and every other job board with supporting evidence. I took my unpaid work off their network drive. I did what I could.
I won’t let a Malaysian employer treat me badly, and I won’t let some mat-salleh company do it, either. Right now, I’m between jobs, but I’m freelancing, I’m hustling. If they pay me, they pay. I’m free to do whatever I want.
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Read also: This M’sian Chose a Remote Working Career to Care For Her Disabled Father
This M’sian Chose a Remote Working Career to Care For Her Disabled Father
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