Controversies
Labour controversies
In December 2018, The Guardian reported that migrant workers were allegedly being subjected to forced labour, forced overtime, debt bondage, withheld wages and passport confiscation. The company has denied these allegations and claimed that it has since improved its labour initiatives, which include the introduction of a zero cost recruitment policy.
An investigation by Channel 4 News in June 2020 found that staff were living in cramped conditions, paid £1.08 an hour, forced to work overtime to meet the demand for gloves during the COVID-19 pandemic, and could not adequately practice social distancing despite the company claiming appropriate measures were taken. Workers, many of whom were migrants, also claimed they paid up to $5,000 in recruitment fees to secure employment, leaving them in debt bondage. Top Glove did not address any specific claims but called the investigation inaccurate.
In July 2020, Top Glove engaged United Kingdom-based ethical trade consultancy Impactt Limited to assess the presence of forced labour by reference to the International Labor Organization's 11 Forced Labour Indicators, propose corrective action plans to improve the Group's labour practices, and monitor the Group's implementation of the corrective action plans.
In April 2021, Impactt verified that the company has eliminated all indicators of systemic forced labour in its direct operations. This includes repayment of recruitment fees totaling USD $36 million to current and eligible former workers via monthly payments which were concluded in April 2021.
US CBP Withhold Release Order (WRO) and revision
On 15 July 2020, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) placed a Withhold Release Order (WRO) on imports of products made by subsidiaries of Top Glove for labour issues over debt bondage of its foreign workers and poor housing. In response, Top Glove pledged to improve housing for their workers and remove the debt bondage of its workers in an effort to lift the ban.
On 13 May 2021, the US Customs and Border Protection seized a shipment of 4.68 million Top Glove latex gloves in the Port of Kansas City, Missouri on the grounds that they had been manufactured using forced labour. This shipment was worth RM 2.8 million (US$690,000) and was bound for Kansas City.
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On 9 September 2021, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced that it has uplifted and modified the forced labour findings on Top Glove Corporation Bhd, and that the CBP will permit the importation of disposable gloves made at Top Glove facilities in Malaysia to US effective immediately. The CBP cited Top Glove as an example of a company that did take proactive steps to engage with it to remediate the WRO or Finding.
COVID-19 pandemic
In mid-November 2020, several COVID-19 cases were detected in one of the Top Glove dormitories in Klang which has led to an enhanced movement control order being implemented in the surrounding area. By 27 November 2020, more than 4,000 cases were linked to the Top Glove dormitory cluster. On 30 November, the EMCO at Top Glove's dormitories across Malaysia was extended until 14 December. The company were required to temporarily close a total of 28 factories in stages in the area.
According to a Malay Mail report published on 13 December 2020, several South Asian migrant workers had told the Agence France-Press about "appalling" living conditions including cramped dormitories housing 25 people. These overcrowded conditions had contributed to the spread of COVID-19 within 28 of Top Glove's 41 factories. In response to criticism and publicity, Top Glove announced plans to purchase more workers' accommodation and to build "mega-hostels" equipped with modern amenities that can house 7,300 people. The same day, it was reported that Top Glove had fired a whistleblowing Nepalese migrant worker named Yubaraj Khadka for sharing photos of overcrowded working conditions, which were later picked up by Reuters.
In a radio interview with BFM89.9 on 23 December 2020, Top Glove's Managing Director, Dato’ Lee Kim Meow said the company had established 3 helplines for aggrieved workers, one internal and two staffed by personnel from a consultant firm and an audit firm. Top Glove announced that it would no longer penalise whistleblowers and would establish three helplines for workers’ complaints.
In April 2021, during a media walkabout of Top Glove's workers’ accommodations in Klang and Setia Taipan, the company announced it would be investing up to a total of RM300 million to provide conducive workers' accommodation that comply to the Workers' Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act 1990 (Act 446). Glove manufacturer Top Glove Corp Bhd is working with Independent workers rights specialist, Andy Hall, as it takes measures to improve working and living conditions at its factories.
