Employment Policies Under The Cambodian Labour Law
By B2B Cambodia
on
The Labour Law states that employers should grant equal employment opportunities to workers and must not discriminate when hiring.
The Cambodia Labour Law of 1997 outlines employment relations resulting from employment contracts performed in Cambodia. The law applies to contracts for employment in the Kingdom regardless of the place of contracting, the nationality of the parties, or the residence of the parties.
A number of related regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Labour seek to promote change in the employment scheme from a labour-intensive orientation to one focused on skill-intensive industries in order to improve Cambodia’s competitiveness and productivity.
To ensure that equal employment opportunity, employers are prohibited from discriminating based on race, colour, sex, language, religious belief, political tendency, birth origin, social status, wealth or other status from the hiring process through during the term of employment. Employers are permitted to discriminate, however, in cases where the job requires specific skills.
Employers should be aware of the following recruiting procedures:
- Minimum age: the minimum age for wage employment is 15 years old and extendable to 18 years old for work, which, by its nature, could be hazardous to the health, safety or morality of the adolescent. In specific circumstances, children from 12 to 15 years old can be hired to do light work provided that the work is not hazardous to their health or mental development and will not affect their school attendance or participation in vocational training.
- Equal pay for equal work: the wage will be the same for all workers having the same skills and output.
- Minimum wage: there is no set minimum wage for private sector employers with the exception of the garment and footwear industry; however, by law, salaries for private sector employees must be at least equal to the minimum guaranteed minimum wage: the salary must ensure the employee a decent standard of living compatible with human dignity.