SDP said its board had agreed to reimburse its foreign workers when it came to light that some of them have been charged additional fees by third party recruitment agents in July 2021.

“These fees are unreported payments charged by agents, sub-agents or other third parties to our foreign workers in countries of origin, in contravention of SDP’s zero recruitment fee policy,” it said in a statement today.

SDP will reimburse 15,078 workers a total sum of RM38.55 million.

The workers are from Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

Additionally, it is setting aside a sinking fund amounting to RM43.47 million to reimburse 19,565 former foreign workers.

“All reimbursements will be paid in a single lump sum payment to the foreign workers,” it said. They would be informed of the details in writing and receive their payments on Feb 17.

The company said a sinking fund governance committee has been established to oversee the reimbursement to the former foreign workers who had worked for SDP dating back to Nov 1, 2018. It has also engaged law firms in each country of origin to manage the disbursement of the funds.

SDP said it has established an improved “Responsible Recruitment Procedure” after working with migrant rights activist Andy Hall since October 2020 to revise the procedure and guidelines that govern the hiring of its foreign workers.

It has also rolled out an initiative where foreign workers from each nationality nominate a representative for an on-site dialogue with management representatives, conducted fortnightly across its 121 estates and 33 mills in the country.

The workers will be able to raise site-specific issues during the dialogues for speedy resolution.