Malaysia: Top Glove denies allegations of labour abuses
"Top Glove denies forced labour allegations", 14 December 2018
Top Glove... has denied the allegations made by UK newspaper The Guardian regarding forced labour, excessive overtime, debt bondage and passport confiscation.
“There is absolutely no forced labour at Top Glove. As regards to keeping strictly to the Labour Law of Malaysia, we have now implemented strict measures to ensure that the overtime undertaken by our workers does not exceed the maximum limit permitted under the law,” the group said in a statement today...
...The Guardian reported that Top Glove had declined to respond directly when asked to comment on the allegations the newspaper gathered from 16 workers from the factories. In response, the group clarified: “Top Glove was not contacted by the Guardian and given the opportunity to comment on the allegations in the article. We would also appreciate if you could clarify when and how the interview of the 16 workers took place.”
...The group also denied the report’s allegation where 16 workers had their passports involuntarily held by the company and were unable to get them back on request. “Top Glove has never confiscated our migrant workers’ passports. In the interest of safeguarding these important documents, their passports are kept in a Passport Safekeeping Room with individual lockers, to which workers have free access anytime...