News
Spike in migrant worker numbers
Nearly 100,000 Cambodians were sent to work overseas last year, an increase of 12.6 percent compared with the previous year that saw about 85,000 workers migrate, according to a Ministry of Labour report. The report, issued yesterday, said that last year Cambodia sent 96,338 labourers ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/113661/spike-in-migrant-worker-numbers/
Government establishes working group to tackle faintings
Health Minister Mam Bun Heng yesterday announced the formation of a working group to address mass fainting, a day after the premier raised the issue at a meeting with garment workers, though relevant officials had few details on the group’s objectives. ...
Kuoch Masy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-establishes-working-group-tackle-faintings
Ministry toughens teen labour ID requirements
The Ministry of Labour has announced new regulations for hiring workers between the ages of 15 and 18, toughening identification requirements in a sector plagued by the use of fraudulent documents.The prakas, active since November 20, requires young workers to show at least three different ...
Lay Samean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-toughens-teen-labour-id-requirements
Dearth of job security for young workers: org
Employers in the Kingdom need to draw up more contracts with their young workers to keep them from being exploited and left in the dark in case of a dispute, a youth NGO urged yesterday. ...
Lay Samean
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/dearth-job-security-young-workers-org
Deal ends moratorium on maids to Malaysia
Four years after Prime Minister Hun Sen personally outlawed the practice of Cambodian women traveling to Malaysia to work as domestic servants, the two countries have agreed to restart the maid trade, according to a statement released by the Labor Ministry on Thursday. ...
Matt Blomberg and Kang Sothear
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/deal-ends-moratorium-on-maids-to-malaysia-102759/
Labour law delayed after protests
The government has agreed to delay the passage of a controversial law governing the trade union sector, announcing it would set up a national workshop to work out the legislation’s thornier clauses on December 15. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/labour-law-delayed-after-protests
Gov't denies factory closure rumours
The Ministry of Labour has urged the arrest of the “mastermind” behind an apparently spurious rumour spreading across shop floors that garment factories would close their doors for the entire month of December. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/govt-denies-factory-closure-rumours
Jobs plentiful, but wages low for Kingdom’s youth
While unemployment rates are low among Cambodian youths, their jobs are largely poorly paid and informal, providing them with just enough money to survive on, according to a recent report.The report, released on Sunday by youth NGO the Youth Resource Development Program (YRDP) and the ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/jobs-plentiful-wages-low-kingdoms-youth
Takeo garment workers protest at Ministry of Labour
More than 300 garment workers from Takeo province protested in front of the Ministry of Labour yesterday, following two weeks of strikes over working conditions.Workers requested intervention from the ministry over the dismissal of 1,000 striking workers as well as 13 demands including lunch money, ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/takeo-garment-workers-protest-ministry-labour
Garment union demands go unanswered
Despite repeated threats of strikes, a coalition of garment sector unions is still waiting on a response from the Ministry of Labour for the wide-ranging reforms it called for last month, with plans to seek help from overseas. ...
Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/garment-union-demands-go-unanswered
Fighting child labour
While Cambodia marginally stepped up efforts to combat child labour in 2014, a lack of resources and corruption remain massive impediments to the fight, according to a report released by the United States Department of Labor last week. It attributed those improvements largely to beefed-up ...
Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/fighting-child-labour
Recruiter’s assets seized by police
Police have seized property from a rented house in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district belonging to a recruitment firm that allegedly cheated money from some 100 Cambodians hoping to find work in Thailand. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/recruiters-assets-seized-police
Date set to announce new wage
The tripartite working group tasked with setting the minimum wage in Cambodia’s garment industry is slated to officially convene today, with the results of the negotiations to be announced on October 5 if all goes to plan. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/date-set-announce-new-wage
Unions’ house divided
A secret ballot yesterday failed to resolve garment union splits over what to demand at upcoming minimum wage talks, with at least one independent union rejecting the majority vote of $158 and vowing to put forward $178.The division came a day after Labour Ministry spokesman ...
Mom Kunthear and Shaun Turton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/unions-house-divided
Abuse fears holding up workers pact for Qatar
A major factor holding up an agreement to send Cambodian workers to Qatar is the Cambodian government’s refusal to send domestic workers to the country amid a “high risk” of sexual abuse, a Labour Ministry official said yesterday. ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/abuse-fears-holding-workers-pact-qatar
Passes set to replace passports for migrants
In an effort to curb illegal migration, the Ministry of Interior issued a letter on Tuesday announcing that all migrant workers who want to gain employment abroad will be able to obtain so-called migrant passes instead of having to wait for a regular passport. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/passes-set-replace-passports-migrants
GMAC no fan of union law
The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia says it will push for revisions made on the draft trade union law last week to be changed.During a meeting on July 28, the Ministry of Labour said it had revised a number of provisions in the law, which ...
Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/gmac-no-fan-union-law
Ministry, NGO to push training
Youth vocational training may be the key to curbing migration and combating poverty in Cambodia’s most vulnerable communities, according to child welfare NGO Pour un Sourire d’Enfant (PSE), which is helping to roll out a technical skills program for high school dropouts. ...
Rebecca Moss
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-ngo-push-training
Rainsy tells FTU to push for $180
Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) president Sam Rainsy yesterday told unionists that his party supports a minimum wage increase in the Kingdom’s garment industry to $180 per month in 2016. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rainsy-tells-ftu-push-180
Permitted More than 25,000 get work cards
The Ministry of Labour granted about 25,000 work permits to foreigners in the first six months of 2015, about 5,000 more than they issued during all of last year. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/permitted-more-25000-get-work-cards
Korea test cheaters arrested
Seventeen young people were charged by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court and released on bail yesterday after they were caught allegedly falsifying documents while taking a Korean language test administered as a precursor to working in South Korea, police said. ...
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/korea-test-cheaters-arrested
Hundreds of thousands without Thai work papers
With less than three weeks left until the deadline, over 300,000 Cambodian migrants registered in Thailand have not completed the verification process necessary to receive work visas, raising the possibility of a repeat of last year’s mass exodus. According to figures from the Thai Labour Ministry ...
Charles Parkinson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hundreds-thousands-without-thai-work-papers
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
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