Labor policy and administration

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday urged landlords not to indiscriminately increase the price of rent in light of the upcoming hike in the wages of garment workers next year. Speaking at the inauguration of the Coca-Cola factory in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, the ...

Union officials have applauded the Ministry of Labor which is preparing to ratify some International Labor Organization’s (ILO) conventions, including two that unions, factory workers and domestic workers have long demanded. The Labor Ministry said on Wednesday that to promote and protect the rights, benefits and ...

The government has established the National Committee for Health and Work Safety, to comprise in part officials from relevant ministries to review, give counsel and spread information related to health and work safety. According to a sub-decree dated Monday and signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen, ...

The Labour Ministry said last week it was drafting a minimum wage law that would expand beyond the garment industry and cover all workers, a proposal that drew cautious praise from union leaders and advocates, along with a healthy dose of scepticism. ...

The Ministry of Labor said yesterday that it was working with experts and International Labor Organization (ILO) officials to create a draft law laying out the monthly minimum wage for workers in a variety of fields outside the garment and textile industry, which late last ...

Because of improved working conditions in garment and footwear factories across the Kingdom, the government yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to continue implementing the Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) program for three more years. During a celebration commemorating the 15th anniversary of BFC, Labor Minister ...

Labour Minister Ith Samheng and Malaysian Ambassador to Cambodia Dato’ Sri Hasan Malek yesterday announced that three more categories of workers are being added to a December agreement to send domestic workers to Malaysia. ...

The Education Ministry will look into further increasing the minimum wage for teachers in Cambodia after educators said the recent hike of $37, to take effect next April, was still insufficient.​ During the 2016 Teachers’ Day celebration at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia yesterday, Education ...

Ten pro-government unions on Friday released statements in support of Cambodia’s recently passed Trade Union Law, just days after two independent unions held a meeting to discuss hoped-for changes to the contentious legislation. The independent unions met last week to compile a list of amendments to ...

The Cambodian Independent Teacher Association (CITA), along with about 100 teachers from various provinces, gathered at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh yesterday to mark International Teachers’ Day and demanded the government further increase their minimum wage to at least $370, not including additional bonuses. CITA acting ...

In the first nine months of the year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cambodian embassies abroad have helped nearly 600 Cambodians who went to live and work abroad, legally or illegally, to return home. Foreign Ministry spokesman Chum Sounry said yesterday that the ministry and ...

Unions are still seething at the new minimum wage figure for garment and footwear industry workers – which the government decided to raise by only $13 per month last Thursday – but stopped short of saying they would organize protests out of a fear for ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen announced yesterday that the minimum wage for teachers is set to exceed $230 (about 950,000 riel), not including additional bonuses, come April next year. During a graduation ceremony for Cambodia University for Specialties students at Koh Pich, Mr. Hun Sen said the ...

Representatives for garment sector employers and employees will vote on Wednesday for their respective final proposals for the new minimum wage next year.​ Two weeks ago, members of the tripartite minimum wage negotiations began a series of meetings to discuss their various salary proposals. The Garment Manufacturers ...

In the midst of annual minimum wage negotiations, Minister of Labour Ith Samheng used a visit from members of the Southeast Asian Youth Programme to reiterate that the minimum wage for garment workers would reach at least $160 a month by 2018, state media reported. ...

Unions decided to lower their demand for $179.60 per month as the new minimum wage for the garment, footwear and textile industries in 2017, telling employers yesterday that they were dropping the figure by $2 – matching the $2 employers added to their figure earlier ...

Employer representatives and trade unions sat down across from each other for the first time yesterday for head-to-head negotiations over next year’s garment sector minimum wage, with factory owners reluctantly offering a small $2 increase to their earlier proposal of $144.20. ...

Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand will have to pay 950 baht (about $27) to receive a travel card or Overseas Cambodian Worker Card (OCWC), the Labor Ministry announced yesterday. From September 26, workers will be able to apply for the documents, under a bilateral agreement signed ...

The Ministry of Labour yesterday met with the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, the industry trade group, to discuss the reasons behind the latter’s proposal of a $144 monthly minimum wage. ...

Female workers are still being paid less than their male counterparts on construction sites, while building companies value male construction workers as more skilled than women, according to a CARE Cambodia report released Friday. CARE’s research paints a comprehensive picture of the situation of women working ...

The government revealed its favored figure for the new garment and footwear industry minimum wage in 2017 during a Technical Working Group meeting on Friday, telling attendees that they believed it should be raised by about $8 per month – representing only a five percent ...

Employers released their starting figure for the new minimum wage yesterday, saying in an open letter that they planned to enter tripartite negotiations with $144.20 per month as their goal for 2017. In a letter from the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) signed by secretary-general ...

The Foreign Ministry last Thursday secured the release of 23 Cambodians who had been arrested and detained last month for overstaying their visas and working illegally in Malaysia. Another 16 Cambodians detained by Thai authorities for lacking passports were released as well. ...

A group of 17 union leaders will demand $179.60 when they sit down for the latest round of negotiations this week to determine the minimum wage in the garment sector, which employs more than 600,000 Cambodians. The monthly minimum wage is currently $140. The new figure ...