Phnom Penh (VNA) – The Cambodian Ministry ofLabour and Vocational Training will now allow foreign workers to make up morethan 10 percent of certain enterprises’ staff if companies cannot find localworkers to fill positions.
The announcement, signed byLabour Minister Ith Sam Heng in mid-August, said enterprise owners who fallunder the scope of Article 1 of the labour law can file a request to employ anincreased amount of foreign workers, the Phnom Penh Post reported.
Ministry spokesperson Heng Sour said the decision aims tomeet the needs of full-time production chains which operate 24 hours per day,noting that the night entertainment, agriculture and construction sectors arestill lacking workers.
According to this ministry’s regulation issued in 2014,enterprise owners or managers must prioritise recruiting Cambodian workers, andforeigners must not account for more than 10 percent of their staff.
However, Executive Director of the country’s Center forAlliance of Labour and Human Rights Moeun Tola said the ministry should nothave made this decision because currently, Cambodian citizens returning fromabroad are facing unemployment.
Allowing more than 10 percent of foreigners to work seems toopen an opportunity to compete between foreign and Cambodian workers, henoted./.
