Supermax Corporation Bhd said that since January this year, the Company has put in place measures supported by a comprehensive Foreign Worker Management Policy to strengthen its Human Resources management and migrant workers policies and practices. The Company is now aligned to the International Labour Organization (ILO) standards.
In a statement, it said that Supermax is confident that workers at its sites are free from systemic forced labour and that all of its current HR practices and policies will meet the expectations of international bodies including the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and that the Company is not in violation of any of the 11 ILO forced labour indicators.
Supermax has embarked on its undertakings to meet the ILO standards since 2019 with the introduction of zero cost recruitment fee and was amongst the first in the industry to do so.
The Company then continued to work towards meeting ILO standards, however its efforts were hindered by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Movement Control Orders implemented in the country. Subsequently, several independent audits facilitated further understanding of the ILO forced labour indicators which led the Company to further refine its HR practices. In November 2021, the Company engaged an experienced HR Consultant with in-depth experience in the social compliance field to help facilitate work on compliance framework and guide its remediation process. This led to the launch of its new Policy amongst other initiatives where work has been completed in various stages.
To-date, the Company has introduced a slew of refinements and several industry-first initiatives which include the introduction of equal pay and equal benefit for both its local and foreign workers, introduced a hybrid human resource management approach for on-site vendors, removed cut-off period for ex-workers remediation and implemented a higher than, the then, statutory minimum wage in December 2021.
The Company has also completed remediation to all its current workers. Remediation to exworkers are currently ongoing. The Company has implemented an outreach programme and engaged an international consulting firm to facilitate remediation payment to ex-workers who have returned to their home countries. Supermax is committed to ensure all former workers receive their remediation payment and will reach out to as many ex-workers as possible.
Supermax has established a Sinking Fund to facilitate these remediation payments, which is governed by a 6-member advisory committee inclusive of a reputable international consulting firm, a Malaysian-based NGO on human rights and an international migrant worker specialist.
