Kuala Lampur, June 10 -- In Malaysia, many employers keep valuable employees on well past the statutory retirement age of 60. Experience, technical expertise and institutional knowledge often make that an easy business decision. But what happens when the same employer later tries to rely on "retirement age" to justify dismissal?

A recent Industrial Court decision makes the answer clear:

Once an employer has allowed an employee to continue working for years after turning 60, it cannot casually invoke retirement age as a convenient basis for termination.

In that case, the employee continued serving as a Project Manager for several years after turning 60, with no change to his terms of employment.

The employer later terminated his employ...