Overtime Work for Women in Cambodia

I confess to have spent too many of my lazy Sundays in Phnom Penh picking my way through hordes of tourists and expats scouring the crowded stalls of Russian Market, or Phsar Toul Tom Poung, for a good bargain. An unlikely mecca for label-conscious preppy fashionistas, brands like Gap, J.Crew, Abercrombie, and American Eagle work their way here and are commonly sold for a mere tenth of the price listed on the tag that remains attached as a proof of authenticity.

Today, it is estimated that Cambodia has approximately 300 garment factories that employ roughly 355,000 workers. For over a decade, work in this booming industry has lured young women from the provinces into factories in and around Phnom Penh, with the promise of higher salaries and an accompanying taste of city life. More than 90% of all garment factory employees are women. According to the Export Diversification and Value Addition for Human Development Report published by the Economic Institute of Cambodia in June 2007, these women work for an average salary of US$73 per month. Due to the prevalence of piece work and overtime work practices, they have the potential of earning up to US$130 per month. 

At first glance, garment factories seem to offer Cambodian women workers, standards of employment that are ahead of similar industry standards in neighboring Southeast Asian countries. In 1999, Cambodia committed itself to supporting high labor standards in accordance with its bilateral trade agreement with the U.S. Through this agreement, the U.S. agreed to reward good working conditions in the textile industry with a portion of its imports reserved specifically for garments made in Cambodia. As a result of such trade incentives, working conditions in Cambodia’s garment industry have been ranked higher than some other Asian countries.

The tremendous earnings potential in overtime factory work and strict labor regulations to protect workers are inarguably benefits of employment in the garment industry. However, since most of the garment sector workforce is female, special considerations is taken in the regulation of work hours. Overtime work frequently occurs late at night, jeopardizing the personal safety of women workers who must travel to and from work at hours generally deemed unsafe for women. “Every Friday we have to work overtime until 1, 2 or 3 o’clock [in the morning]. I feel afraid and I can’t go home,” admits C.S., a 22 year old garment worker in Phnom Penh. As a World Bank report shows, rape is a very real safety concern for women traveling to and from factories, which tend to be on the outskirts of Phnom Penh; 9.3% of workers reported that they or a close personal friend had been raped in the previous year.

Although measures to limit women’s working time to daytime hours may ostensibly provide extra protection to women, they can also inadvertently deter employers from hiring women workers. The Doing Business gender team is currently collecting data on provisions that regulate night work or otherwise restrict women’s working time. In this case however, simple, less potentially restrictive measures, such as the provision of transportation home to women who work overtime after dark, could make a world of difference in ensuring the safety of women garment factory workers. Women should also be allowed to freely choose overtime work.

In theory, this is the case; Cambodian law stipulates that overtime work should be voluntary and limited to only two hours per day. However, as a 2006 ILO report revealed, of 44 factories inspected, just over half ensured that overtime was voluntary while the rest made it compulsory. Workers commonly voiced complaints of being forced to work on Sundays or public holidays and receiving threats from employers that their declining one day of overtime work would result in never being offered overtime work again. As a result of such threats, even pregnant or sick women find it difficult to refuse overtime work in the garment industry.

In a less direct way, rigid labor regulations governing permanent employees have exacerbated the problem of women workers’ inability to turn down overtime work. To skirt the expenses of hiring and firing permanent workers and providing these employees with a slew of mandated benefits, factory owners and managers often hire workers on temporary contracts. “We can see that our members in the local factories are facing re-contracting of their employment from permanent workers to temporary workers,” says Khil Thida, Education Director of the Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union Community. “Temporary workers have fewer rights and are able to be terminated if they take one day off or if they refuse to work overtime.”

While the ILO monitors for misuse of short-term contracts, abuses persist. As Ros Harvey, who served as the Chief Technical Advisor for the ILO’s Better Factories Cambodia project until mid 2006, notes, “They (employers) think short term contracts makes it easier for them to get rid of workers.” The flexibility of fixed-term contracts makes it easier for both employers and employees to adapt working arrangements to their needs. Looking out for the safety of women workers employed at night and safeguarding the right of women to choose to work overtime during these risky hours, are critical to ensuring the health and productivity of the predominantly female workforce upon which the overall competitiveness of the garment industry depends.