The latest report on working conditions in Cambodia’s garment factories, compiled by the International Labour Organization’s Better Factories Cambodia Programme (ILO-BFC), has found a slight improvement in factories’ overall compliance with labour law standards.
BFC’s 32nd Synthesis Report on Working Conditions in Cambodia’s garment industry presents an overview of the status of compliance with the labour law in the factories where the programme operates. The findings are based on ILO-BFC factory assessment reports on 393 garment and footwear factories, between May 2014 and April 2015.
The BFC report notes that overall compliance levels increased slightly during the reporting period, following a downward trend between 2010 and 2013. These improvements include positive changes on issues related to severance payments, emergency preparedness and the payment of bonuses.
The report also documents how overall compliance levels have gone up since the start of the BFC programme in 2001, and how awareness of legal requirements and implementation of the labour law has increased, as indicated by factories’ current compliance status compared to their first assessment visit.
However, despite the slight increase in compliance levels, some persistent challenges remain and there are also areas where change has been negative. The top ten non-compliance issues – which remain the same as in previous years - include issues related to overtime and occupational safety and health.
“Even if small, the increase in aggregate compliance level is a positive signal for the garment and footwear industries and their workers,” said Esther Germans, programme manager of the ILO-Better Factories Cambodia Programme. “The efforts of all stakeholders - the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, trade unions and international buyers - are essential to support these positive trends, and to address the root causes of the persistent problems.”
BFC launched its project in 2001 as a direct result of a trade agreement between Cambodia and the U.S. which provided Cambodia better access to the US market in exchange for improved working conditions.
