FOREIGN workers at Top Glove Corp Bhd were surprised to read reports that they were allegedly being exploited by their employer, saying that was furthest from the truth.

Nepali and Bangladeshi workers outside the factory compound during a change of shift yesterday verified Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran’s declaration that claims of the manufacturer’s exploitation of foreign workers were false.

The workers said they worked regular eight-hour shifts and a maximum four hours of overtime daily, for which they were promptly paid every fortnight.

“We work 7am to 4pm,” said Anish, 21, from Nepal, who has worked 10 months at Top Glove.

“After that, we work overtime for four hours.”

The workers said their superiors did not mind if they did not wish to work extra hours.

“The bosses don’t make us if we do not want to work overtime.” said Sohel, 22, from Bangladesh.

“The bosses don’t give us problems, my salary is paid on time, and the company is good.” he said.

On the matter of their passports being withheld, a Nepalese worker who did not wish to be named said his was in the company’s keeping.

“I don’t get access to my passport; the passport is kept by human resources and we cannot take it,” he said.

Another worker contradicted him, saying workers were not denied access to their passports and that they only needed to inform the management if they wished to have their travel documents.

“We can take the passports, but we have to inform the warden first” said Madhab, 35, from Bangladesh, who has worked there since 2016.

In an article on Sunday, The Guardian reported that workers at the two glove manufacturers in Malaysia, one of which was Top Glove, were victims of forced labour, overwork, and debt bondage, and that their salaries and passports were withheld by their employers.

Kulasegaran cleared Top Glove of the allegations.

He said the only possible offence Top Glove was guilty of was allowing the workers to clock up more than the permitted 104 hours of overtime a month, and that the Labour Department was looking into the case.

Kulasegaran had also said the allegations could be from industry rivals out to beat the country’s rubber gloves manufacturer.

He said he was informed of “elements of slander” and did not deny the possibility that the claims of abuse could be the work of third parties.

Top Glove chairman Lim Wee Chai told The Malaysian Insight the group was considering taking legal action against British daily, The Guardian, over the “unfair and misleading” report. – December 12, 2018.