20 June 2021

Foreign workers at an electronics factory that reportedly produces parts for Dyson vacuum cleaners have made allegations of exploitation in an interview with a British newspaper.

The Sunday Mirror reported today that foreign workers at the Johor Bahru-based ATA IMS claimed that they share a room with 60 others, live in filthy conditions, and had to clock 186 hours overtime a month on top of the standard 48-hour working week.

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ATA was also in the spotlight last month when it denied allegations of unethical recruitment and labour violations made to the US Customs and Border Protection service.

In response to the Sunday Mirror’s article, ATA senior manager Jivanadham Kavita Kaushaliya said the firm “strictly complies with labour laws and regulations relating to recruitment, minimum wages and maximum working and overtime hours”.

A spokesman for Dyson was quoted as saying the company takes action “wherever we see evidence of wrongdoing” and had seen no evidence to support the allegations related to Dyson’s supply chain.

“We are confident that the allegations and images (in the Mirror report) do not relate to Dyson’s supply chain and that Dyson products are not manufactured by workers living in these alleged conditions,” the company said in a statement.

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