Labor
Labor policy and administration
After protest, dream land agrees to severance
Former employees of the recently closed Dream Land amusement park in Phnom Penh agreed to severance packages of between $85 and $200 on Tuesday, company officials said. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/after-protest-dream-land-agrees-to-severance-109962/
Ex-dream land workers demand severance
About 50 former employees of the recently shuttered Dream Land amusement park in Phnom Penh protested outside the park’s grounds on Monday to demand severance pay. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ex-dream-land-workers-demand-severance-109889/
Cambodian embassy in Thailand denies extortion allegations
Cambodia’s embassy in Thailand has denied allegations that officials from the embassy were extorting Cambodian employers and migrant workers in Thailand by demanding bribes for fake passports and pushing along applications to legalize a person’s working status. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22694/cambodian-embassy-in-thailand-denies-extortion-allegations/
Union law sees major amendments, still lacks blessing of workers
As a result of the meeting with the specialist commissions, Minister of Labor Ith Samheng said that nearly 50 percent of the comments given by union leaders, business owners, development partners and the government were used to make changes in the draft union law yesterday. ...
Taing Vida
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22634/union-law-sees-major-amendments--still-lacks-blessing-of-workers/
Strikes, increased wages and electricity costs worry Japanese investors
Illegal strikes, the minimum wage and high electricity costs were the subjects discussed during the 13th annual meeting between Cambodia and Japan last week, according to the Council for Development of Cambodia (CDC). ...
Unionists arrested by undercover police out on bail
Two unionists jailed since February 2 have been released on bail by the Kompong Speu Provincial Court, although they remain charged with incitement and intentional violence in connection with a protest outside the Cerie garment factory, officials said Thursday. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unionists-arrested-by-undercover-police-out-on-bail-109759/
Government considering increase in allowances
Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced that the government is considering raising family allowances for the wives and children of public servants across the Kingdom. ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22491/government-considering-increase-in-allowances/
Construction jobs doubled last year: ministry
The construction sector created almost twice as many jobs last year as it did in 2014, according to a report from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction. ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22067//
Report shows improved gov’t response to human trafficking
The National Committee on Combating Human Trafficking released its annual report yesterday, with figures showing an improved effort by authorities since 2014 to crackdown on the trade. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21924/report-shows-improved-gov---t-response-to-human-trafficking/
With job cuts on horizon, factory’s staff walks
Roughly 2,000 workers from the Malaysian-owned Global Apparels Limited garment factory in Phnom Penh went on strike yesterday after the factory announced it would be reducing staff numbers by 500 over the coming months, union representatives said yesterday. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/job-cuts-horizon-factorys-staff-walks
Protesters call for release of imprisoned bus driver, activist
About 500 people gathered outside Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison on Tuesday to demand the release of former Capitol Tours bus driver Nan Vanna and labor activist Ros Siphay, who were arrested two weeks ago for participating in a demonstration against the company. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/protesters-call-for-release-of-imprisoned-bus-driver-activist-108888/
Labour ministry eyes minimum wage law
The Ministry of Labour is eyeing the creation of a draft law that would codify the sometimes-nebulous process that determines the garment industry’s minimum wage, attendees at the ministry’s annual meeting were told last week. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/labour-ministry-eyes-minimum-wage-law
Embassy rescues maid from Saudi Arabia
The Cambodian Embassy in Kuwait successfully rescued a Cambodian woman working as a maid in Saudi Arabia who complained of abusive working conditions, lack of food and of having pay withheld. Him Srey, a Cham Muslim from Kampong Cham province who went to Saudi Arabia ...
Srey Kumneth
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21681/embassy-rescues-maid-from-saudi-arabia/
Factories failing women: study
Despite their overwhelmingly female workforce, garment factories in Kompong Speu province fail to adequately address the maternal health and child-care needs of their staff, according to new study set to be released by the French NGO Enfants and Developpment. ...
Taylor O'Connell
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factories-failing-women-study-108780/
Forty faint at Svay Rieng SEZ factory
Officials blamed food poisoning for sparking the mass fainting of about 40 garment workers in a factory in the Svay Rieng border town of Bavet on Monday afternoon. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/forty-faint-svay-rieng-sez-factory
Workers at Japanese company launch strike
More than 100 workers from Japanese-owned quality control firm Kuwahara, whose office is located in the Cambodiana Hotel, gathered in a park across the street from the hotel yesterday morning to boycott their employer and demand they institute a litany of conditions that were born ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21477/workers-at-japanese-company-launch-strike/
Anti-capitol boycott drawing increased support after attack
A boycott of the Capitol Bus Company organised by former drivers and their supporters is picking up steam online after a brutal beatdown took place at a protest last week. ...
Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/anti-capitol-boycott-drawing-increased-support-after-attack
Fumes blamed as 20 garment workers faint
Twenty female garment workers at Evergreen Apparel factory in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district fainted yesterday because of toilet fumes funnelled through the ventilation system, though heat stress and heavy workloads were also possible factors. ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/fumes-blamed-20-garment-workers-faint
Saudis sign MOU on maids
Cambodia and Saudi Arabia on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding to begin work on opening a pipeline for Cambodians to work in the gulf nation, which has been routinely criticised for failing to protect migrant domestic workers from abysmal treatment and slave-like conditions. ...
Chhay Channyda and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/saudis-sign-mou-maids
Appeal court to hear ‘insurrection’ case next month
Eleven opposition activists who have been jailed since 2014 for supposedly participating in an “insurrection” will have their appeal against their conviction heard on March 17, their lawyer said on Friday. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/108429-108429/
Sugar plantation burns in Svay Rieng province
A fire burned through 45 hectares of sugarcane plantation belonging to three companies in Svay Rieng province’s Svay Tiep district on Tuesday, with one company representative suspecting that the fire was intentionally set. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sugar-plantation-burns-svay-rieng-province
Fumes from toilets lead to mass faintings at factory
More than 30 workers fainted at a garment factory in Kandal province over the past two days after inhaling noxious fumes circulated by a ventilation fan located near the facility’s toilets, an official said. ...
Ben Sokhean
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/fumes-from-toilets-lead-to-mass-faintings-at-factory-107996/
Maid to return from Saudi Arabia as deal nears
Consular officials yesterday were working to repatriate a Cambodian maid fleeing what she described as unfair working conditions in Saudi Arabia, even as Cambodia’s minister of labour was en route to seal a long-awaited deal to open a pipeline of workers to the Gulf nation. ...
Charles Rollet and Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/maid-return-saudi-arabia-deal-nears
Protesting capitol bus drivers attacked
A bloody scuffle in Phnom Penh on Saturday left scores injured after protesting bus drivers and their supporters were brutally set upon by a rival association armed with sticks, metal bars and hammers. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/protesting-capitol-bus-drivers-attacked