TOP Glove Corp Bhd’s headquarters in Meru, Klang, had been raided by enforcers on July 13 but the world’s largest glove manufacturer was cleared of forced labour, the Human Resources Ministry (MOHR) said.
Enforcers found Top Glove had breached movement control order rules as well as provided cramped quarters for foreign staff, the ministry said in a statement today.
The operation was conducted by task forces for the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007 and the recovery MCO.
“This led to Top Glove being fined by the Ministry of Health, and issued a notice of compliance by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. However, nothing was found to indicate there were elements of forced labour,” MOHR said.
Also, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detention order on Top Glove, which came into effect on July 15, was due to the possibility of forced labour, and that this had happened before to WRP Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd in 2019, the ministry added.
“The ministry is aware of how the CBP detention order can affect the credibility and image of Malaysia, while influencing foreign investor confidence following the allegations of forced labour,” MOHR said.
The detention order saw Human Resources Minister M Saravanan meeting with Top Glove, as well as other rubber industry players under the Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association to seek clarification on the matter.
Worker accommodations prepared by employers, especially for foreign workers, were also closely linked to any element of forced labour, according to MOHR.
This takes into account the full enforcement of the Department of Labour of Peninsular Malaysia towards the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 446 (Amendment) 2019, which will be in full effect on Sept 1.
“The enforcement of this act is in line with international standards as set by the International Labour Organisation,” said MOHR, who also warned local employers of all sectors to not take any action that contravenes the act, which could see said employers facing the charge of having elements of forced labour.
MOHR also ordered employers to conduct Independent Social Compliance Audits (ISCA) to ensure their compliance to the National Labour Standards.
“The implementation of ISCAs was decided during the joint committee meeting of the minister of Home Affairs and the minister of human resources on foreign worker management in 2019, and the implementation date was set as Jan 1, 2021,” said the statement.
At the end of the trading day, Top Glove’s shares were last done at RM24.92, up 12 sen, with 34.6 million shares traded. – July 21, 2020
