ALLEGATIONS of foreign-worker abuse against Top Glove Corp Bhd could be the work of industry rivals out to beat the country’s rubber gloves manufacturer, Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran said.

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

“There could be a third party at work. I was told about elements of slander, perhaps from their competitors. The ministry also went to check to see if such accusations were true,” Kulasegaran told The Malaysian Insight.

British daily The Guardian reported on Monday that workers from Nepal and Bangladesh at Top Glove and another manufacturer, WRP Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd, were made to work excessive amount of overtime of up to 160 hours a month. 

This was above the legally permitted 104 hours of overtime in a month, as stipulated under the Employment Act 1955.

Claims of being made to work excessive overtime hours were untrue, as it was the workers themselves who wanted to put in more hours, he said.

“It is not forced exploitation. It is workers who were willing to work more hours. I met them yesterday (Monday) and we discussed this.”

During his visit to a Top Glove factory in Klang on Monday, he said the ministry found only one claim in The Guardian’s report to be true and it was currently being investigated by the Labour Department.

The department had also visited 22 factories owned by Top Glove and other companies.

On claims that foreign workers had their salaries withheld and passports confiscated, Kulasegaran said the ministry’s investigations found that workers had keys to their lockers where their passports were kept and had admitted to a RM50 deduction from their wages for hostel accommodation, which was permitted under the law.

Top Glove employs some 15,000 foreign workers and 4,000 locals.

The Guardian’s report was part of investigations into claims that the supply chain for Britain’s National Health Service involved forced labour conditions.

Top Glove shares, which dropped 5.93% on Monday after the report, rebounded yesterday after news of Kulasegaran’s comments clearing the manufacturer of wrongdoing. – December 12, 2018.