Ministries and other national bodies
Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training
Bavet factory ordered to close after mass faintings
The Svay Rieng provincial labor department on Monday ordered a Taiwanese-owned garment factory to temporarily close and improve its ventilation after more than 100 workers collapsed in two separate mass faintings in recent days. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/bavet-factory-ordered-to-close-after-mass-faintings-78102/
Labor Minister warns officials over foreign work permits
Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng on Thursday warned officials processing work permits for foreign workers to adhere strictly to all the relevant rules and regulations or risk an unwanted visit from the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). The government has recently started enforcing a longstanding but largely ignored ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/labor-minister-warns-officials-over-foreign-work-permits-77922/
Labor minister says Unions have no reason to complain
Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng on Wednesday denied recent claims from a group of disgruntled unions that the government was making it nearly impossible to register branches at garment factories, and announced a new push to bring noncompliant factories in line with Cambodia’s labor laws. ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/labor-minister-says-unions-have-no-reason-to-complain-77843/
Commute deadly: gov’t
Garment workers continue to die in traffic accidents on their way to and from the factory, a new report highlighting the deadly commute in Cambodia’s largest industry shows. In the report, titled The Dangerous Journey of Garment Workers in 2014, the Ministry of Labour’s National Social ...
Wage wait: Unionists not impressed with promise
Labor leaders sniffed at the government’s stated commitment yesterday to hike the wage in the garment industry to $160 – by 2018. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/wage-wait-unionists-not-impressed-promise
Unions warn of strikes over gov’t rejection of new branch
A group of eight trade unions Thursday said the government has turned down every one of their applications to form local branches at the country’s garment factories since early last year and threatened mass strikes if the rejections continue. At a press conference in Phnom Penh, ...
Mech Dara
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-warn-of-strikes-over-govt-rejection-of-new-branches-77031/
Ministry outlines procedures for businesses hiring foreigners
The Labor Ministry released a statement Monday with a list of procedures all businesses in Cambodia that hire foreign workers must follow in order to comply with the country’s long-standing Labor Law. According to Monday’s statement, which was signed by Labor Minister Ith Sam ...
Gov’t launches three-year roadmap on migrant labor policy
The Labor Ministry on Thursday launched a new three-year policy for improving the lot of Cambodia’s more than 700,000 migrant workers that includes plans to step up monitoring of the country’s often-abusive recruitment agencies and add labor attachés to more embassies. Nilim Baruah, a senior ...
Zsombor Peter and Ouch Sony
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/govt-launches-three-year-roadmap-on-migrant-labor-policy-74515/
Tally of goods linked to child labour grows
Four more goods made in Cambodia have been linked to exploitative child labour, adding to a mounting list of items the United States considers to be produced in violation of international rights laws. The mounting number of Cambodian goods found to use child labour runs ...
Laignee Barron
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/tally-goods-linked-child-labour-grows
Cambodia awards enterprises for HIV/AIDS prevention
Cambodia’s Labor Ministry on Thursday awarded some of the best performing companies in the country for their work on HIV and AIDS education and prevention at workplaces. Labor Minister Ith Samheng handed over 124 awards to enterprises in a range of sectors, including the garment industry, ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/health/2014-11/27/c_133818461.htm
Authorities warn union leader
Police on Friday warned labour union leader Pav Sina that if he continues to lead protests – thereby violating the rules of a court order – he will be arrested. The Collective Union of Movement of Workers leader was called to the Choam Chao commune police ...
Mom Kunthear
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/authorities-warn-union-leader
Workers say $128 per month is not enough to live on
Cambodian unions say they will not agree to a minimum wage proposed by the Cambodian government. Union leaders say the government’s proposed minimum wage of $128 per month will not be enough for workers to keep up with the rising cost of living in the country. ...
Heng Reaksmey
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/workers-say-128-per-month-is-not-enough-to-live-on/2529249.html
GMAC claims on true wages ‘exaggerated’
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) said in a statement this week that under the new minimum wage workers can actually earn up to $250 per month, though others were quick to label the figure exaggerated. The Ministry of Labour last week approved the new ...
Mom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/gmac-claims-true-wages-%E2%80%98exaggerated%E2%80%99
Maid agreement looms
Under an agreement with Malaysia, Cambodian migrant workers will be allowed to hold on to their passports and copies of their contracts but will be banned from any “political activities”, according to a draft version of the document obtained by the Post. The memorandum of understanding ...
Alice Cuddy
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/maid-agreement-looms
Most are OK with the new wage, not all
After meeting with members, several labour union leaders yesterday said that they will not hold protests against the government-set garment industry minimum wage for 2015. Minister of Labour Ith Sam Heng last week approved $128 as 2015’s minimum monthly wage in Cambodia’s garment sector. The increase, ...
Mom Kunthear
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/most-are-ok-new-wage-not-all
Maid MoU drawing near
Cambodia and Malaysia expect to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the end of the year that would reopen the pipeline of local maids being sent to work there, officials said on the sidelines of a final round of discussions yesterday between the countries. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/maid-mou-drawing-near
Cambodia sets minimum wage below union demands
Cambodia on Wednesday increased the monthly minimum wage for garment workers by 28% to $128, falling short of union workers’ demands and creating the potential for further strikes in the country. Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union, said the ...
James Hookway and Sun Narin
http://online.wsj.com/articles/cambodia-sets-minimum-wage-below-union-demands-1415789944
Cambodia to raise monthly minimum wage for garment workers to 123 USD for 2015
Cambodia on Wednesday decided to increase the monthly minimum wage in the garment sector to 123 U.S. dollars, up 23 percent from the current 100 U.S. dollars, Labor Minister Ith Samheng said. ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/business/2014-11/12/c_133784394.htm
Cambodia raises garment wage, but unions say not enough
Cambodia on Wednesday raised the controversial monthly minimum wage for garment workers by 28 percent, a decision likely to infuriate unions seeking a higher increase and revive calls for strike action. Sixteen members of the Labour Ministry’s Labour Advisory Committee voted for the government-proposed minimum ...
World Bulletin News Staff
http://www.worldbulletin.net/economy/148209/cambodia-raises-garment-wage-but-unions-say-not-enough
No boycott: Union meet could decide wage today
Independent labour unions will take part in the Ministry of Labour’s Labour Advisory Committee (LAC) meeting today, possibly making their decision on next year’s minimum wage in Cambodia’s garment sector. NIFTUC and the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers’ Democratic Union (C.CAWDU) considered boycotting the LAC ...
Sean Teehan
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/no-boycott-union-meet-could-decide-wage-today
Cambodian garment unions threaten strike after wage demand is voted down
Cambodian unions have warned of possible strikes after a tripartite working group voted down their demand for a U.S. $40 increase in the monthly minimum wage for garment factory workers. Twenty-seven representatives of unions, factory owners and the government decided in a secret vote in Phnom ...
Roseanne Gerin
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/garment-workers-wages-10302014185252.html
Factory fight: Man faints after shock of charges
One of five garment workers facing charges after a clash with security forces and other workers at a Kampong Cham footwear factory last month was hospitalised after fainting in prison. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/factory-fight-man-faints-after-shock-charges
Union proposal for minimum wage scrapped in Cambodia
Activists have decried a decision by the Ministry of Labour to disregard union pleas for a hike in the minimum wage for some of the country’s 500,000 garment workers, one warning that it could lead to civil unrest. The unions’ wage proposal received only seven ...
World Bulletin News Staff
http://www.worldbulletin.net/union-proposal-for-minimum-wage-scrapped-in-cambodia/147476/union-proposal-for-minimum-wage-scrapped-in-cambodia
New regulations focus on healthy workplace, foreign workforce and labor identification documents
The deadline for submitting applications for foreign employee quotas is fast approaching. Employers must apply for the foreign labor quota before the end of November 2014 in order to employ foreigners in 2015. The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training has recently issued a number ...
Max Howlett and Yun Sophal
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/new-regulations-focus-on-healthy-workplace-foreign-workforce-and-labor-identification-documents-7578