A Malaysian employer reveals financial struggles after staff complained about low pay, sharing bank statements to show limited profits and rising costs.
A business owner has recently opened up about the difficulties of running a company, detailing the struggle to make ends meet while attempting to keep employees satisfied.
According to a recent post on the Threads platform, the entrepreneur launched the business in late 2024, initially paying their two employees RM1,700 each. Earlier this year, the workers received a pay rise of between RM150 and RM200.
Despite the wage increase, the staff members remained dissatisfied. The employer reportedly discovered them criticising management after reviewing security camera footage.
“The boss makes a lot of profit, yet it is so difficult for us to make RM2,500 a month,” the employees were alleged to have said.
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To address the issue, the employer convened a meeting in early March, presenting the staff with company financial records, including bank statements from the previous 12 months. This demonstrated the actual balance remaining after the payment of salaries.
“The ending balance was just over RM15,000 after covering rent, utilities and all other overheads. As the boss, I only take home about RM3,000 to RM4,000 a month,” the post stated.
Following the meeting, the employer introduced fixed working hours with no overtime pay in April to manage the situation. However, this measure exacerbated tensions, leading the staff to allegedly disregard the new policies.
“The staff started turning up late. I had already included a ‘No Work, No Pay’ clause in their offer letters, meaning deductions would be made for any minutes or hours lost due to lateness—but they were very stubborn about it,” the employer claimed.
As a consequence of these actions, the staff received only RM1,800 to RM1,900 this month.
The employer subsequently informed the team that they were free to seek employment elsewhere if they felt their pay was too low, highlighting the business’s current financial limitations in affording a RM2,000 to RM2,500 monthly salary.
The owner also stated that at the end of 2025, the workers received a RM1,000 bonus. However, they were allegedly unhappy because of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) deductions.
“I just do not know what to do anymore. Perhaps they assume RM15,000 is a huge sum for a business owner who still has to pay rent and operating expenses.
“Furthermore, my annual income does not even meet the taxable threshold, which essentially means it is really not much at all,” the employer said.
