In a statement on its company website, the group said a preliminary engagement with the said supplier, whose identity is being withheld, after recent allegations came to light, “suggests there have been instances of forced labour lapses”.
Such incidents occurred despite documentation provided that indicated compliance by the said supplier, the company said.
“While we are disappointed to learn of this, our focus at this time is to constructively engage with the company to determine why these lapses occurred, and what the timeline and path to remediation will be,” it said.
YTY Group said its preferred approach when dealing with such allegations was to engage with the supplier in question as they seek to regain compliance, rather than reactively cancelling current or future purchase contracts.
It said such a measure ensured ongoing employment and continued compensation for the affected employees.
“By the same token, if we do not see positive intent, and dedicated effort on the part of the supplier to address forced labour concerns in a reasonable timeframe, we will not hesitate to conclude our relationship with them,” it said.
Earlier this month, FMT reported migrant worker rights activist Andy Hall as claiming that close to 200 Bangladeshi workers employed by the same ceramic former and specialist gloves mould manufacturer had gone without pay for three months.
Hall had claimed that payment for overtime work for the past five months was outstanding, and the workers were not allowed to keep their passports and were being put up in poor living conditions.
He also said the workers, based in a southern state, claimed that they had been inconsistently paid since 2023 and were in severe debt after paying exorbitant recruitment related costs in the hope of finding jobs in Malaysia in 2017, 2018 and 2023.
About 130 workers from the group were reported to have filed a formal complaint against the company at a labour department in early March, which remains outstanding.
Contacted today, Hall said that while the workers have reported improvements in their working conditions since their complaints came to light, they remained in considerable debt bondage while still living in poor housing conditions.
He also said the majority of the workers had still not got back their passports.
“Debt bondage and confiscation of personal documents are both serious ILO indicators of forced labour or modern slavery,” he said.
“This supplier must, therefore, urgently reimburse the workers their recruitment fees and costs, estimated to be about RM17,000 per person, to take them out of debt, and also return their passports.”
Hall said if the supplier was not in a healthy financial situation, it should request support from its well-known Malaysian and international customers to complete the reimbursement process without further delay.