With the entry into force of the RCEP and the signing of the China-Cambodia FTA, trade activities between China and Cambodia have become more and more frequent, the flow of people has accelerated, and the number of Chinese nationals working in Cambodia as foreign workers has gradually increased. It is indispensable to understand the labor laws of the host country when working abroad. This article mainly focuses on the Cambodia's Labor Law and related regulations, and briefly introduces the legal regulations that foreign workers need to understand when they work in Cambodia.

      The Labor Law of the Kingdom of Cambodia was first promulgated and implemented on March 13, 1997, and has been revised three times since then, namely on July 20, 2007, June 26, 2018, and October 5, 2021. The main content includes labor contract, wages, trade union, collective labor agreement, social insurance, labor safety, work hygiene conditions, vocational training, and other aspects. The legislative style belongs to the nature of a code of law.

      With regard to foreign workers, the Cambodian Labor Law stipulates five articles (articles 261-265) in Chapter 10, Section 2, Employment of Foreign Labor. Article 261 clearly states that foreigners working in Cambodia must possess a work permit (labor permit) and an employment card issued by the Ministry in Charge of Labor, and must also meet the following conditions: 1. Employers must obtain prior approval from the the Ministry in Charge of Labor to use quotas for foreign workers. The translation of this clause is mostly expressed as work permit. After searching the articles of Cambodian local law firms and systematically explaining the Cambodian labor law, the author thinks that quota is more appropriate here, and readers are welcome to discuss it. 2. These foreigners must have legally entered the Kingdom of Cambodia; 3.These foreigners must possess a valid passport; 4. These foreigners must possess a valid residency permit; 5. These foreigners must be fit for their job and have no contagious diseases. If any of the above conditions cannot be met in the later stage, according to Article 262, the Ministry in Charge of Labor can revoke the work permit. Article 263 stipulates that，for professionals such as lawyers, bailiffs, and notaries, employers must give priority to recruiting Cambodians when recruiting. Article 264 stipulates that the Ministry in Charge of Labor shall announce the maximum percentage of foreigners who can be allowed to employ in each of the enterprises covered by Article 263 (currently the announced percentage is 10%), and determine the maximum percentage of foreigners according to the following categories of personnel: 1. Office personnel; 2. Specialized personnel; 3. Non-specialized personnel. Article 265 stipulates that in exceptional cases, in order to allow the employment of specialist indispensable to the operation of the enterprise, the percentage of foreigners can be exceeded the above limit with the authorization of the Minister in Charge of Labor at the suggestion or proposal of the Labor Inspector.

     According to Cambodian law, foreign nationals who visit Cambodia for a long period of time (usually exceeding three months) must obtain an E-class visa with an initial validity period of 30 days, which includes EB (business), EG (general), ES (student), ET (technician), etc. Foreigners who are want to work, start businesses and engage in freelancers in Cambodia need to obtain business visas (EB visas). The initial validity period of the EB visa is 30 days. If foreigners want to extend it, they need to submit an application to the immigration department of the Ministry of Interior. The visa can be extended for a period of one month, three months, six months, or a maximum of one year at a time.

Though a prerequisite for obtaining a work permit, an EB visa alone does not guarantee foreign nationals the right to work in the Cambodia. To be legally employed in Cambodia, foreigners must also hold a work permit as stipulated in Article 261 of the Cambodian Labor Law. A work permit refers to a certificate that foreign nationals have obtained official approval and are allowed to work legally in Cambodia. It needs to be obtained through the employer, which means that the foreigners hired by the employer are represented by the employer to submit it to the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training. Foreigners who work as employers or self-employed individuals in Cambodia must also apply for a foreign work permit and employment card for themselves. According to Article 261 of the Labor Law, the validity period of a work permit is one year. To renew it, the application for renewal must be submitted to the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training between January 1st and March 30th each year, but the renewal must not exceed the period determined by the valid residency permit. The employment card is a separate booklet for recording the employment history of foreign workers in Cambodia.

Ⅳ. Possible penalties for foreign workers whose work permits do not meet the requirements

      Due to the current increase in the number of illegal immigrants and workers in Cambodia, the government of Cambodia has increased its efforts in enforcing the work permit requirements related to foreign workers, mainly through the formation of a special labor inspection department to carry out labor inspections. The labor inspection department is under the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training and consists of several inspection teams and has a special working group on foreign labor inspection, which is carried out by labor inspectors. According to Article 346 of the Labor Law, labor inspectors are free to enter and exit any enterprise within their supervisory jurisdiction at any time without prior notice. If the inspection reveals that a foreign worker does not have a work permit or has a work permit that does not comply with the law, according to the seriousness of the case, foreign workers may face the following penalties: (i) Fine; (ii) Imprisonment; (iii) Deportation. The three types of penalties are generally imposed separately, but there may also be situations where imprisonment and expulsion are combined.

     There is no fixed amount of fines for foreign workers, and the latest information on the amount of fines is currently available in the measures on foreign labor inspection and management introduced by the Joint Sectoral Committee on Foreign Labor Inspection in Cambodia in 2023. The first phase (January-March) is to publicize the principles and measures of foreign labor inspection and to request employers to declare the information of foreign workers during this period, while the second phase (April-June) is to carry out on-site inspections, and in case of violations, fines will be imposed according to the fine system. For foreign workers, the fines are calculated on the basis of 80,000 Riels (136 RMB) and 200,000 Riels (340 RMB) per day. For employers who illegally employ foreign workers, the fines range from 2.52 million Riels (about 4,284 yuan) to 12.6 million Riels (about 21,420 yuan).Due to the inability to find the specific calculation method for the fine amount imposed, readers with authoritative information are expected to supplement and correct the relevant information. After obtaining more detailed information, this account will also be updated in a timely manner to share with you.

    At present, most of the punishment measures are fines, there is little information about imprisonment. The latest information I have found is Notice 272 of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training in 2017, which clearly states that foreign worker who do not comply with the requirements of work permit and employment card may be imprisoned for up to 1 month. In addition, according to Article 19 of Cambodian Immigration Law, the employment of foreign workers must comply with the provisions of the Labor Law of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Article 29 of the Immigration Law stipulates that all foreign nationals who violate the provisions of this law and enter the Kingdom of Cambodia through fraudulent means or other means must be imprisoned for three to six months before being deported.

     According to Article 36 of the Cambodian Immigration Law, the Minister of the Interior has the right to deport foreign nationals who working in the Kingdom of Cambodia without a work permit from the country.

      Foreigners who come to Cambodia to work, start businesses or engage in freelancers should know about the Cambodian Labor Law and other relevant laws and regulations. In order to avoid any adverse situation, foreign worker need to obtain visa, work permit, employment card, etc. in strict accordance with the relevant legal requirements of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Ⅵ. Declaration and Acknowledgement

      Due to limited access to relevant information from abroad, this article mainly starts with Cambodian Labor Law and Immigration Law, and no other relevant legislative or judicial interpretations have been found yet. The legal and regulatory materials cited in this article mainly come from SokSiphana&Associates, a Cambodian law firm (https://www.soksiphana.com/), Official website of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training in Cambodia (https://mlvt.gov.kh/), Centralized Management System for Foreign Workers of the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training in Cambodia (https://fwcms.mlvt.gov.kh/), International Labour Organization (https://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm). At the same time, readers are reminded of that there may be differences between the Chinese version, the English version and the Khmer version due to translation technology, or the information of the article is lagging behind because it is difficult to find the latest information abroad. If we have the latest information, it will be updated in the comments section. Welcome to discuss and correct related issues with the article!

Author: Zhang Chuan

Translator: Zhang Chuan

Editor: You Zhe