Sime Darby: Positive US forced labour review reflects complete reform

 

The United States Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) has modified its forced labour finding against Sime Darby Plantation Berhad (SDP), which the latter said is due to the comprehensive process undertaken in the last two years to review, revise, and upgrade its protocols for recruiting, managing, and working with its workers.

The decision means that, effective immediately, the USCBP will now permit the importation of palm oil from SDP into the United States.

SDP Group MD Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha said that the exercise has been hugely valuable in establishing a market-leading approach to ensure our employees feel safe, satisfied, supported, and fairly treated.

“It took us more than 500,000 man-hours to undertake our reviews and to revise what we already had in place. To ensure change is embraced and entrenched, we also put in place key enablers to empower our workers. 

“It is essential that such safeguards are in place to protect those who are vulnerable,” he said.

SDP is among eight Malaysian firms that have been banned by the US in the past four years over forced labour allegations.

In 2021, Malaysia announced a government plan to eliminate abusive practices such as debt bondage, unhygienic dormitories for workers, and excessive overtime, by 2030.

SDP said that it had introduced a number of industry firsts as part of its renewed commitments. These include:

• The reimbursement of recruitment fees that may have been paid by current and eligible former workers to secure employment with SDP in contravention of its zero-recruitment fee policy.

• The introduction of stricter expectations within SDP Group’s enhanced Migrant Worker Responsible Recruitment Procedure, which includes efforts to ensure appointed recruitment agents are contractually accountable for compliance with ethical and transparent recruitment standards, as well as SDP’s own policies and standards.

• A commitment to conduct regular due diligence on contractors to ensure they strictly adhere to SDP’s Contractor Vendor Management policies and guidelines, when managing workers.

• The creation of social dialogue platforms where workers elect representatives from every nationality to meet with estate management fortnightly.

• The setting up of three dedicated helplines, two of which are independently administered, for workers and contractors to raise grievances. 

• The introduction of controls for monitoring working hours through a process automation system to track the clock-in and clock-out time of workers to ensure maximum working hours are not breached.

• The development of a dedicated mobile application for workers to request repairs to their on-site accommodation.

• The implementation of an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) scorecard in SDP’s operating units, which carries as much weight as the operational scorecard. 

Helmy said: “Having embraced the principles of sustainable development several years ago, we already had a comprehensive range of policies and procedures in place. Many were industry-leading practices at the time. Despite that, we found room for enhancements in implementation.

“Today, our commitment to all our stakeholders is vigilance and a continuing responsibility to produce palm oil that is free of forced labour,” he added. - Mkini