Labor Law

Chapter 1

General Provisions

Section 1

Scope of Application

Different Categories of Workers in the Kingdom of Cambodia

Article 1

This law governs relations between employers and workers resulting from employment contracts to be performed within the territory of the Kingdom of Cambodia, regardless of where the contract was made and what the nationality and residences of the contracted parties are.

This law applies to every enterprise or establishment of industry, mining, commerce, crafts, agriculture, services, land or water transportation, whether public, semi-public or private, non-religious or religious; whether they are of professional education or charitable characteristic as well as the liberal profession, associations or groups of any nature whatsoever.

This law shall also apply to every personnel who is not governed by the Common Statutes for Civil Servants or by the Diplomatic Statutes as well as officials in the public service who are temporarily appointed.

This law shall not apply to:

a) Judges of the Judiciary. ` 

b) Persons appointed to a permanent post in the public service.

C) Personnel of the Police, the Army, the Military Police, who are governed by a separate statute.  

D) personnel serving in the air and maritime transportation, who are governed by a special legislation. These workers are entitled to apply the provisions on freedom of union under this law.  

E) domestics or household servants, unless otherwise expressly specified under this law. These domestics or household servants are entitled to apply the provisions on freedom of union under this law.

Article 2

All natural persons or legal entities, public or private, are considered to be employers who constitute an enterprise, within the meaning of this law, provided that they employ one or more workers, even discontinuously.

Every enterprise may consist of several establishments, each employing a group of people working together in a defined place such as in factory, workshop, work site, etc., under the supervision and direction of the employer.

A given establishment shall be always under the auspices of an enterprise.  The establishment may employ just one person.  If this establishment is unique and independent, it is both considered as an enterprise and an establishment.

Article 3

‘Workers”, within the meaning of this law, are every person of all sex and nationality, who has signed an employment contract in return for remuneration, under the direction and management of another person, whether that person is a natural person or legal entity, public or private. To clearly determine the characteristics of a worker, one shall not take into account of neither the jurisdictional status of the employer nor that of the worker, as well as the amount of remuneration.

Article 4

“Domestics or household servants” are those workers who are engaged to take care of the home owner or of the owner’s property in return for remuneration.

Article 5

“Employees or helpers” are those who are contracted to assist any person in return for remuneration, but who do not perform manual labour fully or who do so incidentally.

Article 6

“Labourers” are those workers who are not household servants or employees, namely those who perform mostly manual labour in return for remuneration, under the direction of the employer or his representative.

The status of labourer is independent of the method of remuneration; it is determined exclusively by the nature of the work.

Article 7

“Artisans” are persons, who practice a manual trade personally on their own account, working at home or outside, whether or not they use the motive force of automatic machines, whether or not they have a shop with a signboard, who primarily sell the products of their own work, carried out either alone or with the help of their spouse or family members who work without pay, or with the help of workers or apprentices, but the entire workshop is solely under the direction of their own.

The number of non-family workers, who regularly work for an artisan, cannot exceed seven; if this number is exceeded, the employer loses the status of artisan.

Article 8

“Apprentices” are those who have entered into an apprenticeship contract with an employer or artisan who has contracted to teach or use someone to teach the apprentice his occupation; and in return, the apprentice has to work for the employer according to the conditions and terms of the contract.

Article 9

In accordance with the stability of employment, it is distinguished:

•             regular workers

•             casual workers, who are engaged to perform an unstable job.

              Regular workers are those who regularly perform a job on a permanent basis.

               Casual workers are those who are contracted to:

•             perform a specific work that shall normally be completed within a short period of

              time.

•             perform a work temporarily, intermittently and seasonally.

Article 10

Casual workers are subject to the same rules and obligations and enjoy the same rights as regular workers, except for the clauses stipulated separately.

Article 11

In accordance with the method of remuneration, workers are classified as follows:

•             Workers remunerated on a time basis (monthly, daily, hourly), who are paid    

             daily or at intervals not longer than fifteen days or one month.

•             Workers remunerated by the amount produced or piecework.

•             Workers remunerated on commission.

SECTION II

NON-DISCRIMINATION

Article 12

Except for the provisions fully expressing under this law, or in any other legislative text or regulation protecting women and children, as well as provisions relating to the entry and stay of foreigners, no employer shall consider on account of:

•           race,

•           colour,

•           sex,

•           creed,

•           religion,

•           political opinion,

•           birth,

•           social origin,

•           membership of workers’ union or the exercise of union activities.

              to be the invocation in order to make a decision on:

•           hiring,

•           defining and assigning of work,

•           vocational training,

•           advancement,

•           promotion,

•           remuneration,

•           granting of social benefits,

•           discipline or termination of employment contract.

Distinctions, rejections, or acceptances based on qualifications required for a specific job shall not be considered as discrimination.

SECTION III

PUBLIC ORDER

Article 13

The provisions of this law are of the nature of public order, excepting derogations provided expressly.  Consequently, all rules resulted from a unilateral decision, a contract or a convention that do not comply with the provisions of this law or any legal text for its enforcement, are null and void.

Except for the provisions of this law that cannot be derogated in any way, the nature of public order of this law is not obstructive to the granting of benefits or the rights superior to the benefits and the rights defined in this law, granted to workers by a unilateral decision of an employer or a group of

employers, by an employment contract, by a collective convention or agreement, or by an arbitral decision.

SECTION IV

PUBLICITY

Article 14

The employer must keep at least one copy of the labour law at the disposal of his workers and, in particular, of the workers’ representatives in every enterprise or establishment set forth in Article 1 of this law.

SECTION V

FORCED LABOUR

Article 15

Forced or compulsory labour is absolutely forbidden in conformity with the International Convention No. 29 on the Forced or Compulsory Labour, adopted on June 28, 1930 by the International Labour Organisation and ratified by the Kingdom of Cambodia on February 24, 1969.

This article applies to everyone, including domestics or household servants and all workers in agricultural enterprises or businesses.

Article 16

Hiring of people for work to pay off debts is forbidden.

CHAPTER II

ENTERPRISES- ESTABLISHMENTS

SECTION I

DECLARATION OF THE OPENING

AND CLOSING OF THE ENTERPRISE

Article 17

All employers to whom this labour law is applied, shall make a declaration to the Ministry in charge of Labour when opening an enterprise or establishment. This declaration, called a declaration of the opening of the enterprise or establishment, must be made in writing and be submitted to the Ministry in charge of Labour before the actual opening of the enterprise or establishment.

Employers who employ fewer than eight workers on a permanent basis and who do not use machinery, shall make and submit this declaration to the Ministry in charge of Labour within thirty days following the actual opening of the enterprise or establishment.

Article 18

For the closing of the enterprise, employers shall also make a declaration to the Ministry in charge of Labour within thirty days following the closing of the enterprise.

Article 19

A Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour shall define the formality and procedure of the declarations to follow in each case.

Article 20

Every employer shall establish and neatly keep a register of an establishment that was numbered and initialled by the Labour Inspector. The model of the register shall be set by a Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour.

SECTION II

DECLARATION ON MOVEMENT OF PERSONNEL

Article 21

Every employer must make the declaration to the Ministry in charge of Labour each time when hiring or dismissing a worker.

This declaration must be made in writing within fifteen days at the latest after the date of hiring or dismissal.

This period is extended to thirty days for agricultural enterprises.

The declaration of hiring and dismissal is not applied to:

•           Casual employment with a duration of less than thirty continuous days.

•           Intermittent employment for which the actual length of employment does not

           exceed three months within twelve consecutive months.

SECTION III

INTERNAL REGULATIONS OF THE ENTERPRISE

Article 22

Every employer of an enterprise or establishment, set out in Article 17 above, who employs at least eight workers shall always establish an internal regulation of the enterprise.

Article 23

Internal regulations adapt the general provisions of this law in accordance with the type of enterprise or establishment and the collective agreements that are relevant to the sector of activity of the aforementioned enterprise or establishment, such as provisions relating to the condition of hiring, calculation and payment of wages and perquisites, benefits in kind, working hours, breaks and holidays, notice periods, health and safety measures for workers, obligations of workers and sanctions that can be imposed on workers.

Article 24

The internal regulations must be established by the manager of enterprise after consultation with workers’ representatives, within three months following the opening of the enterprise, or within three months after the promulgation of this law if the enterprise already exists.

Before coming into effect, the internal regulations shall be visaed by the Labour Inspector.  This visa shall be issued within a period of sixty days.

Article 25

The articles of internal regulations that suppress or limit the rights of workers, set forth in laws and regulations in effect or in conventions or collective agreements applicable to the establishment, are null and void.

The Labour Inspector shall require the inclusion of enforceable provisions in virtue of laws and regulations in effect.

Article 26

An employer can not impose disciplinary action against a worker for any misconduct of which the employer or one of his representatives has been awarded for over fifteen days.

The employer shall be considered to renounce his right to dismiss a worker for serious misconduct if this action is not taken within a period of seven days from the date on which he has learned about the serious misconduct in question.

Article 27

Any disciplinary sanction must be proportional to the seriousness of the misconduct.  The Labour Inspector is empowered to control this proportionality.

Article 28

The employer shall not impose fines or double sanctions for the same misconduct.  These fines mean any measure that leads to a reduction of the remuneration being normally due for the performance of work provided.

Article 29

The internal regulations must be diffused and affixed to a suitable place that is easily accessible, on the premises where work is carried out and on the door of the premises where workers are hired.

These internal regulations shall constantly be kept in a good state of legibility.

Article 30

All modifications to the internal regulations must comply with the provisions governing the enterprise or establishment.

Article 31

In enterprises or establishments, employing less than eight workers, where there are no internal regulations, the employer may pronounce, according to the seriousness of the misconduct of the workers concerned, a warning, a reprimand, a suspension of work without pay for not more than six days or a dismissal with or without a prior notice.

SECTION IV

EMPLOYMENT CARD

Article 32

Every person of Cambodian nationality working as a worker for any employer is required to possess an employment card.

No one can keep a worker in his service who does not comply with the provision of the above paragraph.

Article 33

The possession of an employment card is optional for seasonal farm workers.

Article 34

The employment card is for the purpose of identifying the holder, the nature of work for which he has contracted, the duration of contract, the agreed wages and the method of payment, as well as the successive contracts.

It is forbidden to use a worker’s employment card for purposes other than those for which it is created.

When the worker quits working for the employer, that employer shall not write any appreciation on the employment card.

Article 35

The employment card is drawn up and issued by the Labour Inspectors at the request of the worker who presents an identity card issued by the competent authorities and a certificate of employment issued by his employer.

Article 36

The issuance of employment card shall be subjected to a fee that shall be collected and given to the national budget. The fee rate and the method of collection shall be set by a joint Prakas of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry in charge of Labour.

Article 37

The hiring and dismissal of a worker, his wage and wage increase shall be recorded in his employment card.

The above record made by the employer must be presented, within seven whole days following the date of entry and departure of the worker, for the visa of the Labour Inspector.

Article 38

The loss of employment card must be declared to the Labour Inspectorate. A duplicate shall be issued under the same conditions as those laid for the issuance of employment card.

SECTION V

PAYROLL LEDGER

Article 39

Every employer of an enterprise or establishment covered by Article 17 above shall constantly keep a payroll ledger whose format shall be set by a Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour.

Before being used, all the pages of the payroll ledger must be numbered and initialled by the Labour Inspector.

The payroll ledger must be kept in the Bureau of Cashier or Head Office of each enterprise so that it is readily available for inspections.  The employer shall keep the payroll ledger for three years after it has been closed.

The Labour Inspector may require to see the payroll ledger at any time.

Article 40

The payroll ledger shall record:

a)         information about each worker employed by the enterprise.

b)         all indications concerning the work performed, wage and holidays.

Article 41

Any enterprises that wish to make the payroll ledger in a different way but contains the same type of information and the same method of review, may apply to the Labour Inspectorate.

SECTION Vl

COMPANY STORE

Article 42

The “company store” is defined as any establishment where the employer directly or indirectly sells his workers or their families foodstuffs and merchandise of any kind, for their personal needs.

Company stores are authorised under the four conditions as follows:

1.         The workers are not obliged to shop just there.

2.         The employer or his attendant is not allowed to make a profit from the sale of the

           merchandise.

3.         The accounting of each company store is to be entirely distinctive of that of the

           enterprise.

4.         The price of items on sale is to be displayed visibly.

Article 43

The opening of a company store is determined by a Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour.

The Labour Inspector monitors the operation of company stores whose management is also shared by the elected representatives of the concerned workers. The Labour Inspector has the authority to order a temporary shutdown of a company store until a final decision is made by the Ministry in charge of Labour.

SECTION VII

GUARANTEE

Article 44

The employer cannot subject the signing or the maintaining of employment contract to a cash guarantee or bond of any form.

SECTION VIII

CHARACTERISTICS OF LABOUR CONTRACTOR

Article 45

The labour contractor is a sub-contractor who contracts with an entrepreneur and who himself recruits the necessary work force or workmen for the execution of certain work or the provision of certain services for an all-inclusive price.

Such a contract must be in writing.

Article 46

The exploitation or underestimation of workmen by the labour contractor or sub-contractor is forbidden.

Article 47

The labour contractor is required to observe the provisions of this law in the same manner as an ordinary employer and assumes the same responsibilities as the latter.

Article 48

In case of insolvency or default by the labour contractor, the entrepreneur or the manager of enterprise shall substitute for the contractor to fulfil his obligations to the workers.

The harmed workers, in such case, may file a case directly against the entrepreneur or manager.

Article 49

The labour contractor is required to indicate his status, the name and address of the entrepreneur, by affixing them to a place that is readily visible in each workshop, storeroom, or work site where work is performed.

Article 50

The entrepreneur shall constantly keep available a list of labour contractors with whom he has contracted. This list, indicating the name, address, and status of the labour contractor as well as the situation of each workplace, must be sent to the Labour Inspectorate within seven whole days following the date of signing the labour contract.

This period is extended to fifteen days for agricultural enterprises or businesses.

CHAPTER III

APPRENTICESHIP

SECTION I

NATURE AND FORM OF THE APPRENTICESHIP CONTRACT

Article 51

The apprenticeship contract is one in which a manager of an industrial or commercial establishment, an artisan or craftsman agrees to provide or is entrusted with complete, methodical and professional training to another person who contracts, in return, to work for him as an apprentice under the conditions and for a time period that have been agreed upon.  This time period cannot exceed two years.

Article 52

The apprenticeship contract must be in form of writing by notarial deed or by private agreement within a fortnight of its implementation, otherwise it is considered null.

Article 53

An apprenticeship contract shall be made up according to customary practices of a profession if there are no rules established by the Labour Inspectorate, with consent of representatives of the profession taught.

The apprenticeship contract must contain:

1.         The last name, first name, age, profession and address of the instructor.

2.         The last name, first name and address of the apprentice.

3.         The last name, first name, profession and address of the apprentice’s parents

           guardian or a person authorised by his parents.

4.         The date and duration of the contract, as well as the trade for which the

           apprentice is trained.

5.         The conditions for the apprentice’s remuneration and, if applicable, all benefits in

           kind: food, accommodation or any other items agreed between both parties.

6.         The skill area that the manager of the enterprise is contracted to teach the

           apprentice.

7.          Indemnity to be paid in case of termination of the contract.

8.         The main obligations of the instructor and the apprentice.

The apprenticeship contract must be signed by the instructor and the apprentice. In case that the apprentice is a minor, the contract can be signed by his legal representative and the instructor.  The Labour Inspector shall review, countersign and register the apprenticeship contract.

SECTION II

TERMS OF APPRENTICESHIP CONTRACT

Article 54

No one can be an instructor or undertake an apprenticeship if he is less than twenty-one years of age, and cannot justify having practiced, for at least two years, the profession to be taught as a technician, trainer, craftsman or skilled worker.

The period of practice of his profession can be reduced to one year, if the instructor has a diploma in theoretical and practical training from a recognised school or a specialised training centre.

Article 55

No employer, instructor in charge of an apprenticeship can live in the same house with female minor apprentices.

The capacity as an apprenticeship instructor or a person in charge of apprenticeship is disqualified for:

1.            Individuals who have been convicted of a crime.

2.            Individuals who have been guilty of behaving against the local traditional

              customs.

3.            Individuals who have been imprisoned for stealing, fraud, misappropriation and

             corruption.

Article 56

A Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour shall determine the occupation and types of work for which teenagers aged at least eighteen years are allowed to be an apprentice.

Once his vocational skill training is adequate, the apprentice is no longer treated as an apprentice but as a worker hereafter.

Article 57

Any enterprise employing more than sixty workers must have the number of apprentices equal to one-tenth of the number of the workers in service of that enterprise.

The maximum number of apprentices employed in an enterprise, regardless of the total number of workers, shall be determined by a Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour in accordance with the possible availability of personnel and materials.

Derogation of the obligation stated in the first paragraph of this article can be endorsed by a decision of the Labour Inspector for enterprises that have requested to pay an apprenticeship tax whose amount and method of payment shall be set by a Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour.

SECTION III

DUTIES OF INSTRUCTORS AND APPRENTICES

Article 58

The instructor shall behave in loco parentis towards the apprentice, that is, watch over his conduct and manners, either at home or outside, and inform his parents or their representative of any serious offenses committed by the apprentice or any incorrect propensity manifested. Moreover, the instructor must also inform the apprentice’s parents, without delay, in the case of illness, absence or any other problem, for their intervention.

The instructor shall not employ an apprentice for an overwork or for any work or service other than those related to the exercise of the apprentice’s profession.

Article 59

The instructor must progressively and completely teach the apprentice the occupation that is the subject of the contract, and where applicable, provide him with every facility or opportunity in the event of the apprentice wishing to take a course in a vocational training school.

At the end of the apprenticeship, a certificate attesting the execution of the contract by both parties and the professional skill of the apprentice shall be awarded after an official examination conducted by a neutral exam panel.

Article 60

The apprentice shall obey and respect his instructor within the context of apprenticeship.  He must assist the instructor in his work to the best of his ability.  He shall keep the professional confidentiality.

Article 61

Any person who is convinced of having incited an apprentice to break his contract shall be liable to an indemnity in favour of the manager of the establishment or of the workshop that the apprentice has abandoned. The indemnity must, in no case, not exceed the amount of actual damages suffered by the former employer.

Any new apprenticeship contract made before the fulfilment of all the obligations or termination of the preceding contract shall be null and void.

SECTION IV

MONITORING OF APPRENTICESHIP

Article 62

A system for monitoring the apprenticeship, such as determining programs by trade, supervision during the apprenticeship, final examination, methods for setting up examination panel, etc., shall be determined by a Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour.

The Prakas of the Ministry in charge of Labour shall also clearly determine the regulations regarding the duration of the apprenticeship, including the trial period, according to the level of professional skill and technical and conceptual knowledge, as well as all the apprentice’s previous training and experience or professional progress made during the course of the apprenticeship.

SECTION V

TERMINATION OF APPRENTICESHIP CONTRACT

Article 63

The apprenticeship contract is terminated lawfully:

1.         By the death of the instructor or the apprentice.

2.         If the apprentice or the instructor is obliged to serve in the army.

3.         If the instructor or the apprentice is imprisoned for a felony or misdemeanor.

4.         By the closure of workshop or enterprise, specified in the above articles.

Article 64

An apprenticeship contract may be terminated at the request of one or both parties, particularly in the following cases:

1.         In case either party does not comply with the stipulations of the contract.

2.         In case of serious or regular violation of the provisions in this chapter.

3.         In case the apprentice obstinately does not respect internal regulations.

4.         If the instructor moves his residence to Sangkat (section) or Khum (commune)

            other than the one in which he lived at the signing of the contract. Nevertheless, a

            request for termination of contract for this reason is acceptable only within three

           months following the day when the instructor moved.

Either party considered to be damaged by the unjustifiable termination of an apprenticeship contract, can demand for a compensation from the other party.

CHAPTER IV

THE LABOUR CONTRACT

SECTION I

SIGNING AND EXECUTION OF A LABOUR CONTRACT

Article 65

A labour contract establishes working relations between the worker and the employer. It is subject to ordinary law and can be made in a form that is agreed upon by the contracting parties.

It can be written or verbal.  It can be drawn up and signed according to local custom.  If it needs registering, this shall be done at no cost.

The verbal contract is considered to be a tacit agreement between the employer and the worker under the conditions laid down by the labour regulations, even if it is not expressly defined.

Article 66

Everyone can be hired for a specific work on the basis of time, either for a fixed duration or for an undetermined duration.

Article 67

1.         A labour contract signed with one consent for a specific duration must contain a precise finishing date.

2.         The labour contract signed with one consent for a specific duration cannot be for a period longer than two years.  It can be renewed one or more times, as long as the renewal does not surpass the maximum duration of two years.

Any violation of this rule leads the contract to become a labour contract of undetermined duration.

3.         Sometimes, this contract may have an unspecified date when it is drawn up for:

•           replacing a worker who is temporarily absent;

•           work carried out during a season; and

•           occasional periods of extra work or a non-customary activity of the enterprise.

             This duration is then finished by:

•           the return to work of the worker who was temporarily absent or the termination of

           his labour contract;

•           the end of the season; and

•           the end of the occasional period of extra work or of the non-customary activity of

           the enterprise.

4.         At the signing of the contract, the employer must inform and clarify the worker of