In collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Swiss Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (SMCC) organised the Q4 HR Circle for 2022 at Roche Services (APAC). The session focused on the topic of Forced Labour.
ILO is a United Nation (UN) specialised agency dealing with labour issues. Their main aims are to promote rights at work, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues. ILO received the Nobel Peace prize in 1969.
Jodelen Mitra, the Technical Officer of ILO shared that according to the 2021 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, there are 27.6 million people in forced labour and most cases (86%) of forced labours are from the private sector.
What is forced labour? As defined in the Article 1 of Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No.29), “Each Member of the International Labour Organisation which ratifies this Convention undertakes to suppress the use of forced or compulsory labour in all its forms within the shortest possible period.”
Jude Peters, project officer of ILO explained the 11 ILO indicators of forced labour to the participants. The 11 indicators are sexual and physical violence, deception, abuse of vulnerability, debt bondage, retention of identity documents, restriction of movement, intimidation of threats, withholding of wages, abusive working or living conditions, excessive overtime, and isolation.
Throughout the session, ILO gave a detailed explanation and examples of forced labour.
SMCC would like to thank our guest, ILO for a detailed presentation on the topic and extend our appreciation to Roche for hosting the session. We hope our participants have some great takeaways from the session and have a deeper understanding of the topic.
