Labor policy and administration

Negotiations to determine 2019’s minimum wage for garment workers began at the Labour Ministry yesterday with the issue of worker welfare as the first order of business, the Labour Advisory Committee said. ...

Dozns of construction workers in Oddar Meanchey province’s Trapaing Prasat district protested on Wednesday, demanding more than $7,000 in wages their company owed them. The more than 30 workers were employed to construct a building at a sugarcane factory owned by Oknha Vinh Hour in ...

A ministry announcement yesterday said initial talks to set the parameters for the mew minimum wage were scheduled for this month and discussions between it, employers and unions will take place next month. ...

As if highlighting the lack of work skills and experience in the Kingdom, of more than 1,000 job openings in Phnom Penh alone as of last month, only 150 young applicants were successful at the interview stage. Phnom Penh Job Center director Aing Pheareak told ...

Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the European Union (EU) to renew efforts to eliminate forced labour and other abusive treatment within the Thai fishing industry, noting that a large number of workers were from Cambodia and Myanmar. ...

The government earlier this week announced the creation of a national committee tasked with improving safety standards on construction sites and ensuring the welfare of labourers. In an attempt to curb construction site accidents, the Labour Ministry on Monday said that the new national committee ...

The Cambodia Garment Training Institute (CGTI) and the National Employment Agency (NEA) on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding that will make vocational training more widely available in Cambodia and help build up the local labour force. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday that the people could rebel to overthrow him if he did not follow through on his promises. However, he said that would be unnecessary as he would voluntarily step down if such was the case. ...

Some 300 garment workers from Kbal Koh Garment factory in Chbar Ampov district in Phnom Penh, whose owner unexpectedly shut the factory in January last year, protested again outside the Ministry of Labour on Tuesday to seek compensation. ...

The Ministry of Labour on Monday pledged to document what it says are the remaining 10,000 illegal Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand by the end of June. All remaining undocumented Cambodian workers after the deadline passes face repatriation by Thai authorities. ...

The National Assembly yesterday adopted a draft minimum wage law, which aims to promote decent living standards for the country’s 780,000 textile workers. More than 100 lawmakers passed the draft law with 33 articles which will benefit workers and the nation as a whole as ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia welcomed the approval of the amendment of article 89 of the Labour Law on worker protection and severance pay by the government on Friday, but the organisation’s head said the move could financially burden employers. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng yesterday said the government is trying to protect Cambodian migrant workers by creating more passport offices and cooperating with international bodies to protect them from labour abuses. ...

Aggrieved workers of First Gawon Apparel (Cambodia) plan to march to the offices of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT) again on Tuesday, seeking a solution from the ministry in a salary dispute that has dragged on for more than five months. Heng ...

The Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU) on Saturday criticised the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) for a statement that said faintings caused by low levels of essential minerals in workers’ blood are to be classed as an accident and not put down to bad working ...

About 100 workers from First Gawon Apparel gathered in front of the Ministry of Labour in Phnom Penh on Wednesday asking for intervention on their behalf in a dispute with their employer. The workers claim the company has not paid their salaries for more than ...

The Labour Ministry has announced that all factories across the country must have their own infirmary completed by the end of this year, noting that 88 percent of factories having built infirmaries already. ...

Cambodian and Thai Labour Ministry officials met once again in Siem Reap province over the weekend and asserted their commitment to strengthen cooperation by agreeing to accelerate the legal identification process of Cambodian workers in Thailand. ...

Workers at the First Gawon Apparel factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district are planning a procession to many different institutions as well as Prime Minister Hun Sen’s house next week to request intervention in a dispute over wages. ...

A memorandum of understanding between the National Social Security Fund and the Techo Volunteer Youth Doctor Association was signed on Wednesday in order to improve healthcare for garment workers. The MoU was signed by TYDA chairman Hun Manet and NSSF director Ouk Samvithya. ...

The government has paid about $1.2 million to nearly 12,000 female garment workers who have had babies so far this year. According to a report released yesterday by the National Social Security Fund, 11,706 female garment workers delivered babies in January, February and the first 22 ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday pledged his commitment to preventing garment factory owners from escaping their obligations to workers by closing their factories without warning, even as the current lack of a formal system for dealing with such situations has left at least one ...

A group representing some of the largest apparel brands in the US and Europe – including Gap, H&M and ASOS – expressed “growing concern” on Tuesday over several controversial labour laws and ongoing court cases against unionists described as restrictive and unjust. ...

The government has accepted a request from a senior officer of the US State Department to hold another discussion on the draft minimum wage law before it is approved. After meeting with Sarah Morgan, an official with the US Office of International Labour Affairs, Labour Minister ...