Cambodia - LSGSC Project

Training Seminar on Minimum Wage Fixing Criteria

The Labour Standards in Global Supply Chains (LSGSC) project delivered a series of training and information seminars on minimum wage fixing criteria to the Labour Advisory Committee (LAC) and Tripartite Working Group (TWG), with the participation of workers’ organizations and employers’ organizations, particularly trade union federations in Cambodia that represent workers in the country’s garment and footwear sector, as well as members of the Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Associations (CAMFEBA).

Delivered during August 2017, these training and information seminars saw the participation of a total of 182 trade union and employer representatives, including 47 female participants.

Purpose of the training

The purpose of the training seminars was to increase the level of capacity and common understanding regarding key minimum wage fixing criteria, both in terms of social as well as economic criteria, as well as data sources and analytical methodologies that can be utilised to inform evidence-based positions of the parties during minimum wage negotiations. As a basis for shared understanding, the training seminars introduced common approaches to both employer and worker participants.

Learning outcomes

In particular, the training seminars increased the capacity of the participants in relation to the following learning areas:

  • The importance of inflation for minimum wage negotiations, and in particular possible changes in the rate of inflation, as forecast by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) and other key institutions in Cambodia for the 2017 and 2018 financial years.
  • Approaches for interpretation and analysis of relevant data and statistics issued by Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce
  • Challenges posted by the current lack of an up-to-date Labour Force Survey (LFS) or enterprise survey in Cambodia.

Trade union representatives welcome the training seminar series, with trade union members of the LAC and TWG actively interacting and raising numerous questions and comments during the programme. Employer representatives, including CAMFEBA board members, and CAMFEBA garment and footwear sector members, as well as employer representatives from other industry sectors also benefitted from the training.