The legal battle over two months' bonus  for Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Berhad’s employees will be heard at the High Court on June 19.

High Court deputy registrar Azrul Darus fixed the date in chambers. High Court judge Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim will hear the matter.

On July 28, last year, Utusan Melayu obtained leave for a judicial review from the High Court to challenge the Industrial Court’s decision ordering the company to pay bonus equivalent to two months’ salary to its staff for the year 2009.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ), which brought the case to the court, had on May 24, last year, won its first round of legal battle against Utusan Melayu after the Industrial Court ordered the company to pay the bonus.

The Industrial Court held that the NUJ had proven that the company made a profit that year.

In the ruling, the Industrial Court ordered the payment to be made immediately but allowed the one-month ex-gratia payment already made to the staff, to be deducted from the two-month salary bonus.

The NUJ took the case to the court on March 23, 2010, when Utusan Melayu did not pay a two-month bonus to its staff on grounds that it incurred losses of about RM26.16 million at company level.

- Bernama