UTUSAN Melayu (M) Berhad will be paying each of their employees RM2,000 tonight as management mulls over closing two papers in its stable.

Human resources, administration and property general manager Nazlan Osman said the amount is based on the company’s current financial situation.

“The payment will be credited into the staff’s accounts by tonight and it will be deducted from salaries owed by the company.

“We hope that this payment will help ease the staff’s financial situation,” he said in a statement.

The management and its staff are currently in a town hall meeting.

Utusan has been in a financial crisis since last year and had failed to meet salary payments from June this year.

It is also having difficulty paying 800 staff members that had left under a voluntary separation scheme – a move management believed would help the company stay afloat.

Yesterday afternoon, the papers’ staff had picketed over the delay in payment of their salaries.

They were informed that the company will have to cease operations if there is no solution to paying their salary arrears.

Earlier, the Human Resource Ministry, through the Social Security Organisation (Sosco), has offered assistance to secure new employment for employees who may lose their jobs due to the financial position of the company.

Deputy minister Mahfuz Omar said today Socso will try to get matching employment for the employees.

He also said contributors to the Employment Insurance System can claim various benefits if they lose their jobs. – August 20, 2019.