On May 6, 2025, Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training issued a directive (prakas) to all employers and establishments to follow new conditions and procedural requirements for overtime work, paid public holidays, and suspensions of weekly time off. (Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (MLVT) prakas No.112/25, May 6, 2025.) This prakas supplements Cambodia’s Labor Law. (Royal Kram No. 02/NS/94, March 13, 1997, amended in 2007.)
Overtime Work
Under the new rules, employers may arrange for employees to work overtime only when they will:
- Carry out special tasks like inventory counts, financial closings, deadline-driven projects, and account liquidations
- Manage urgent or unforeseen workload peaks that cannot be postponed (MLVT prakas, article 3.)
Additionally, overtime must be voluntary, requiring the mutual consent of the employee and employer. Establishments must not punish workers who do not volunteer to work overtime. (Article 4.)
Employees must be paid 150 percent of their basic wages for overtime work performed during daytime hours and 200 percent, or double, of their basic wages for work done between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. (Article 5.) Establishments operating overnight must provide night shift workers with either adequate on-site rest facilities or transportation to their residences after their shifts end. (Article 6.)
Although this prakas does not specify the amount of overtime hours allowed, according to article 197 of the Cambodian Labor Law, total work hours including overtime cannot exceed 10 hours per day.
Paid Public Holidays
Employers must allow their employees to take paid time off for public holidays. In establishments or businesses where work cannot be interrupted because of the nature of the employees’ activities during holidays, employers may require employees to work on holidays if such assignments are arranged ahead of time with affected employees. No employee can be compelled to work on a public holiday without prior agreement. (Article 8.) The compensation employees receive for working on a holiday must be their standard holiday pay plus an additional indemnity in accordance with the applicable law or prakas. (Article 9.)
Suspensions of Weekly Time Off
Referencing article 151 of the Labor Law, the new prakas states that employers may temporarily suspend an employee’s weekly time off, but only to perform salvage work, prevent imminent accidents, or repair damages to materials, facility installations, or buildings of the establishment. This provision cannot apply to children younger than 18 years of age or to women. Employees must receive an equivalent number of days off for every day off they lose due to weekly time-off suspensions. (Article 10.)
Suspensions Due to Adverse Weather
The prakas clarifies that when bad weather results in days off, employers can deduct these forced days off from employees’ weekly breaks to a maximum of two days per month. This provision applies only to establishments in specified categories, such as public utilities and sanitation; plumbing; heating, ventilation and air conditioning; roofing; open-pit mining; open-air markets; agriculture (field harvesting of fruits/vegetables); aquaculture and snail farming; and perishable goods processing and packaging. (Article 11.) Employees required to work during suspended weekly days off are entitled to 200 percent of their base wages. (Article 13.)
Procedural Requirements
All employers must enter details of any overtime, paid-holiday work, or weekly rest suspension into the ministry’s online Labor Automated Central Management System at least three working days before the first affected workday. (Article 14.)
Penalties for Noncompliance
Although this prakas does not specify exact penalties, failure to comply will result in penalties under chapter XVI (articles 359–370) of the Labor Law. (MLVT prakas No.112/25, article 15.) The Labor Law states, “Those guilty … shall be fined or imprisoned or both.” (Labor Law, article 359.) Monetary fines are imposed by the labor controller or inspector and are calculated based on the base daily wage of KHR 80,000 (about US$20) as set by joint prakas No. 498 on Penalties for Persons Violating the Provisions of the Labor Law. They range from 10 to 90 days’ base wages depending on the severity of the violation.
Prepared by Raksmei Dara, Law Library Intern, under the supervision of Sayuri Umeda, Foreign Law Specialist
Law Library of Congress, July 3, 2025
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