Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

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

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Articles 1, 4 and 6 of the Convention. Effective operation of a system of labour administration. Labour inspection. Following its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that Sub-Decree No. 52 of 1 April 2005 has been replaced by Sub-Decree No. 283 of 14 November 2014 on the organization and operation of the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MLVT), which establishes three general departments within the Ministry, including the General Department of Labour. The General Department of Labour is composed of five departments on: labour inspection, occupational safety and health, labour disputes, child labour and employment and manpower. Section 15 of the Sub-Decree provides that the department of labour inspection shall be responsible for performing inspections and monitoring the implementation of laws and regulations relevant to general working conditions. The Government also states that there is no dual function between the Department of Labour inspection and the single labour inspection team. The latter is an eight-person team with officers from six ministerial departments (including the five departments within the General Department of Labour), the National Social Security Fund and the Committee for the Resolution of Strikes and Demonstration. This team avoids the burden of multiple inspections from different ministerial bodies, and it is responsible for factory and enterprise inspection once a year, and for compiling a list of inspection activities and a schedule of inspection visits. The MLVT leads and organizes the inspection activities, including joint inspection teams, their functions and priorities. In this regard, the MLVT issued three Prakas with the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation to set up inter-ministerial inspection teams in sectors of manufacturing, agriculture and tourism. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the inspection activities carried out by the labour inspectorate under the MLVT and by the joint inspection teams including specific information on coordination between the different ministerial departments on this matter. It also requests the Government to provide any available information concerning the number of inspections carried out and the results of such inspections.

Article 5. Consultation, cooperation and negotiation between the public authorities and employers’ and workers’ organizations. Following its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s information on the consultation, cooperation and negotiation between the public authorities and employers’ and workers’ organizations at the national level. In addition to the institutions provided by the Labour Code and the Law on minimum wages, other mechanisms include the Government-Private Sector Forum, Forum Working Group between the MLVT and employers’ and workers organizations and the Project Advisory Committee for Better Factories Cambodia. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that the Forum Working Group was established in January 2020 but that due to the COVID-19 pandemic it has not yet met. Noting the information provided by the Government with regard to the arrangements made at the central level,the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the arrangements made, at the regional and local levels, to ensure consultation, cooperation and negotiation between the public authorities and employers’ and workers’ organizations. It also requests the Government to provide information on the functioning of the Forum Working Group once it begins to meet.

Article 9. Delegation of labour administration activities to regional or local agencies. The Committee notes the Government’s reply to its previous comment that the labour inspection in the country consists of the Department of Labour Inspection of the MLVT and 25 Offices of Labour and Vocational Training at provincial level (OLVT). Labour inspectors exercise their competence as provided for by law within their respective jurisdictions. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on how it ensures coordination between the Department of Labour Inspection of the MLVT and the 25 OLVT at provincial level.

Article 10(1). Training of the staff of the labour administration system. The Committee notes that in reply to the Committee’s previous comment, the Government indicates that, in 2021, trainings provided to the staff of the labour administration system focused on the topic of “labour inspectors to acquire qualifications as judicial police”, related to the mandate of labour inspectors to examine offences under the Labour law and the Criminal Procedure Code. Participants included 266 staff from MLVT and 257 staff from provincial OLVT. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the training provided to the staff of the labour administration system, including duration of training and subjects covered as well as number of participants for each training session.