False Official Documents Help Minors Land Factory Jobs

Girls as young as 12 say they are working in garment factories in Kampong Speu, some with the knowledge of their employers and others with false identification documents issued by their local officials. Labor Ministry spokesman Heng Sour, however, denied that anyone under 18 was working in Cambodia’s factories, and said they would be prosecuted if they were.

The Labor Law allows workers from the age of 15 with guardians’ consent, while children from aged 12 to 15 can still be legally hired for light work if it does not affect school attendance. Minors cannot work at night, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., unless they are at least 16 and it is in response to an accident, the law says.

One 17-year-old working in a factory along National Road 4 told VOD she began work at age 15 after her family paid the local commune chief $150 to raise her age in their official family-book records to 18. She dropped out of school at Grade 8 and began work to help with her family’s debt, the girl said, adding that many girls in her village had done the same.

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