Minimum Wage

• The minimum wage, which affects only the garment, footwear and textile industries, is set at $50 per month, according to Cambodian law. In February 2010, the Phnom Penh Post reported that a labor union petitioned the government to raise the monthly minimum garment-worker wage from $50 to $93, citing a report from the Cambodian Labour Union Federation and the National Institute of Statistics, claiming that $90 was the minimum monthly income for basic living in Phnom Penh.
  
  

Child Labor

• Better Factories Cambodia reports that the minimum age for regular employment is 15, and minors under 18 must have the consent of their parents or guardians. However, those 12 to 15 years old are allowed to do "light work," provided that the work isn't hazardous and won't affect school attendance.
  
  

Working Hours

• The Cambodian labor law stipulates that working hours shouldn't be more than eight hours a day or 48 hours a week, and that employees get at least one full day off work a week. Overtime work can be assigned only under "exceptional and urgent" circumstances, must be voluntary for employees and cannot exceed two hours a day.
  
  

Paid Leave

• Full-time employees (working 48 hours a week) must receive 1.5 days of annual leave per month worked, totaling 18 days per year, according to Better Factories Cambodia. The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training also has set public holidays for which all employees are entitled to take off work with pay. Employees who voluntarily agree to work public holidays must be paid twice the daily rate. Employees who give birth are entitled to 90 days of half-paid maternity leave, but the law does not require paid sick leave under any circumstances.
  
  

Labor Unions

• Employers are forbidden to interfere with unions and must not give consideration to union membership when hiring, firing or adjusting wages. Employers also may not try to influence unions by supporting them.
  
  The protection of union rights were called into question in 2004, when prominent union leader Chea Vichea was shot to death at a newsstand in an upscale neighborhood of Phnom Penh under unclear circumstances. Accusations of involvement have been leveled at the Cambodian government, businesses and rival unions. The two convicted suspects maintain their innocence (their claims are supported by the victim's family), and it is still unknown who ordered the murder.