PHNOM PENH: Factories have been warned not to lay off staff on the pretext of not having sufficient raw materials to continue operations.
The warning was issued by the Labour and Vocational Training Ministry after a request from Crystal Martin factory to suspend 800 workers due to shortage of raw materials.
According to the Phnom Penh Post, the factory employs more than 4,000 workers and is located in Kandal province’s Khsach Kandal district.
“The factory was investigated by the ministry as part of its fact-finding to ascertain if the request was bona fide and could be approved.
“The objective of our investigation is also to prevent factory owners from taking advantage of the current situation to lay off workers.
“We want these factories to assume responsibility for their actions,” Ministry spokesman Heng Sour told the Post.
Kandal’s provincial Department of Labour director Thol Neang, who visited the factory, said Crystal Martin consisted of three buildings and it sought permission to temporarily halt operations at one where 700 to 800 employees work.
“Inspections confirmed that the reason behind the factory’s decision to suspend workers was a shortage of raw materials.
“So far, none of its workers have protested the decision. Now, we are educating them on what to do if they got suspended.
“This includes attending a skills training session if they want to receive an allowance from the government equal to 20 per cent of the minimum wage,” Neang said.
Cambodian Labour Confederation president Ath Thon said it was important to investigate such misconduct among factory owners. He said he expected the government to investigate all requests for employee layoffs in the coming months.
Sour said as many as 200 factories could apply for temporary suspension of their operations this month due to shortage of raw materials. This would affect about 160,000 workers.
He said so far 10 factories had asked for a temporary suspension of part of their operations.