PT QMB response
[Unofficial summary translation Chinese-to-English provided by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]
Thank you for your attention towards the QMB project in Indonesia. In response to recent reports, we hereby make the following statement on labour management of outsourced units and rights protection:
- Company project background and compliance [...]
I. Project entity and nature [...]
II. Labour rights protection measures by the company
The company has established a labour rights committee, established human resources and labour rights protection mechanisms, and a human rights and employee rights working group, formulated a human rights policy and continued to carry out human rights due diligence management, which includes its own employment management and the employment and rights management of contractors/outsourced units.
The company has set up and implemented an employee communication and grievance mechanism. Employees can provide their feedback through internal hotlines, union representatives and other channels to ensure that their demands, especially those involving labour rights, can be responded to and resolved in a timely manner. The scope also covers contractors or outsourcing units.
The company requires all contractors or outsourced units to standardize their own employment and rights management, including requirements on implementation of a salary bank payment system to ensure that salaries are paid on time and in full. This is subject to regular external audits on labour rights by the company and third parties.
3. Specific findings after investigations
We take the concerns being raised very seriously and immediately carried out an investigation in accordance with the "Communication and Complaint Mechanism". Based on the investigation results, our company's human rights and employee rights working group hereby clarifies:
The company involved does not force employees to work. Workers can choose to sign or terminate labor contracts according to their voluntary will. There is no forced, coerced or threatened labor. According to the definition and indicators of "forced/compulsory labor" of the International Labor Organization (ILO), it cannot be determined that the company involved has forced employees to work. At the same time, the working group held one-on-one talk with employees promptly, listened to their demands, and immediately urged the company involved to fulfill their salary payment obligations in accordance with the requirements of QMB's "Human Rights Policy" and relevant management procedures after ascertaining the facts. As of now, the salaries of relevant employees have been paid, and the employees have signed the salary collection forms. The company respects the basic rights of employees to obtain remunerations. In response to this situation, our company has decided to terminate its cooperation with the company involved. [...]