The Sydney Morning Herald article of 14 August misrepresents important aspects of the process by which Ansell ended the employment of 42 workers at its Lat Krabang facility near Bangkok in July...

After being advised of the decision four of the workers voluntarily chose to return to Myanmar. The other 38 workers remained in Thailand and commenced seeking new employment... They remain in Thailand legally and are not at risk of forced deportation or trafficking as the article suggests.

All 42 workers were entitled to their final wages, an additional month’s pay as notice, and severance pay. Ansell paid every worker their entitlement in full, whether they returned to Myanmar or stayed in Thailand. At no time was it ever Ansell’s intention to withhold severance payments until the workers returned to Myanmar.

In line with Thai law, severance payments made to date correspond to the length of time each worker has been employed directly by Ansell. Our intention is to go beyond the minimum required and extend additional financial support to our former workers to assist their transition to new employment...

... Third-party audits of labour conditions at manufacturing plants are an important focus for the company; in the 12 months to 30 June 2023 Ansell initiated three Forced Labour Indicator (FLI) audits and 10 Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audits (SMETA) audits on its own sites and facilitated 45 third-party audits of suppliers worldwide. The audits show Ansell consistently meets or exceeds globally accepted benchmarks for labour conditions, and improved compliance among suppliers.