Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Labour Administration Convention, 1978 (No. 150) - Cambodia (Ratification: 1999)

Articles 1, 4 and 6 of the Convention. Effective operation of a system of labour administration. The Committee notes that the Sub-Decree (Anukret) No. 52 of 1 April 2005 on the organization and operation of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training establishes three general departments within the Ministry, including the General Department of Labour. The General Department of Labour is composed of six departments on: labour disputes; employment and manpower; social security; child labour; occupational health; and labour inspection. Section 11 of the Sub-Decree provides that the department of labour inspection shall be responsible for performing inspections and monitoring the implementation of law and regulations relevant to general working conditions. The Committee also notes the adoption of the Prakas on the Establishment of a Single Labour Inspection Team (No. 037/14 K.B/Kr.K), of 21 February 2014. Sections 1 and 2 of the Prakas establish an eight-person team with officers from the six departments mentioned above, as well as an officer from the department of job market information and an officer from the committee for the resolution of strikes and demonstrations. Section 3 indicates that the Single Labour Inspection Team has a wide range of roles and duties, including to inspect the implementation of the Labour Law and other legislation on general conditions of labour, workplace safety, labour security and working and hygiene conditions of workers/employees, as well as to meet with shop stewards, conciliate labour disputes, inspect the implementation of social security schemes (including registration and payment of contributions) and to provide technical advice. The Committee asks the Government to clarify the difference between the functions and responsibilities assigned to the department of labour inspection (within the General Department of Labour) and those assigned to the Single Labour Inspection Team and to provide information on the manner in which coordination of the activities of these two institutions is ensured. It also asks the Government to provide further information, in its next report, on the functioning and the activities of the Single Labour Inspection Team; and to provide information on the manner in which coordination of the activities of these two institutions is ensured.

Article 5. Consultation, cooperation and negotiation between the public authorities and employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training holds an annual conference, to review the past challenges and set a direction for the next year, to which all concerned stakeholders are invited, including representatives from workers’ and employers’ organizations. The Government also indicates that, in dealing with labour issues, the Ministry performs its duties on the basis of tripartite mechanisms. In this regard, the Committee notes that Chapter XV of the Labour Code establishes a consultative tripartite committee, the Labour Advisory Committee, tasked with studying problems related to labour, the employment of workers, wages, vocational training, the mobility of the labour force in the country, migration, the improvement of the conditions of workers and occupational health and safety. The Committee asks the Government to provide further information on the arrangements made, at the national, regional and local levels, to ensure consultation, cooperation and negotiation between the public authorities and employers’ and workers’ organizations. It asks the Government to provide copies of reports or extracts of reports relating to the tripartite mechanisms referred to in the Government’s report, including any relevant documents on the activities of the Labour Advisory Committee.

Article 9. Delegation of labour administration activities to regional or local agencies. The Committee notes the information in the labour inspection country profile of Cambodia, published on the ILO website in March 2013, that there are 24 labour offices in the country, including at the provincial and municipal levels, and that there are also district offices that are subdivisions of the provincial administrative units. The country profile indicates that while each of these divisions performs labour inspection functions, there is no systematic coordination mechanism on labour inspection between the provinces and the General Department of Labour or between the provinces themselves. The Committee asks the Government to provide further information on the delegation of labour administration activities to provincial and municipal labour offices, and to provide specific information on measures taken to ensure coordination between the General Department of Labour and these offices.

Article 10(1). Training of the staff of the labour administration system. The Committee asks the Government to provide information on the training that staff of the General Department of Labour receive upon taking up their duties and during the course of their employment.