Malaysia sues Dyson suppliers

Malaysia has charged Dyson supplier ATA IMS with four labor law violations related to the accommodation of workers as authorities investigate complaints about forced labor, it said on Saturday.

The move came after UK home appliance maker Dyson announced last month that it would cut ties with ATA and terminate the contract within six months after an independent review of the company's labor practices and allegations of a whistleblower.

"The complaints mainly related to appalling working and living conditions and foreign workers being forced to work excessive overtime," the Malaysian Ministry of Labor said in an email reply to Reuters.

"It is too early to draw a conclusion on the allegations."

The agency, which inspected the company in February, May and July, added that the four charges stemmed from violations of minimum standards of housing for workers.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations.

Reuters reported on November 25 and December 5 that the mostly immigrant ATA workers worked more than the statutory maximum monthly working time of 104 hours and worked on Sundays.

ATA, which makes parts for Dyson vacuum cleaners and air purifiers, has stated that all overtime is voluntary and that work is double paid on Sundays and triple paid on Holidays.

The company has taken steps to ensure that this does not happen again. It introduced a policy of zero overtime on Sundays, which resulted in the termination of almost 300 employees in the first week of December.

Police are also investigating ATA over allegations that a former worker was beaten by the police after he was taken to a police station and questioned whether he gave information about working conditions to activists.

ATA has dismissed allegations made by worker Dhan Kumar Limbu as unfounded and "unlikely to have happened".