manual: women workers' rights and gender equality - International ...

The Labour Code 1997, Chapter 6, section 8, article 177 says that the minimum age for wage
employment is set at 15 years. The minimum allowable age for any kind of employment or work,
which, by nature, could be hazardous to the health, the safety or the morality of an adolescent is
18 years. Children from 12 to 15 years can be hired to do light work provided that: the work is not
hazardous to their health or mental and physical development and that the work will not affect their
regular school attendance, their participation in guidance or vocational training programmes
approved by a competent authority.
Card 4: No to Discrimination, Yes to Equality (picture No. 27)
Convention 100: Equal Remuneration, 1951
Women and men have the right to equal remuneration for work of equal value. This means that
women and men who do the same type of work or who do jobs of equal value but of a different
kind should receive equal remuneration without any discrimination based on sex. Equal
remuneration does not only mean equal pay of a wage or salary. It also includes equal pay for men
and women of any other allowances or benefits such as family allowances, clothing, food or travel
allowances, paid directly or indirectly by the employer to a worker in cash or in kind”. (See session
4.3 Equality at Work for more details).
Convention 111: Discrimination (Employment and Occupation), 1958
This Convention is closely related to Convention 100. Men and women irrespective of their race,
colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin have the right to equal
opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation. This includes equal access to
employment, equal access to vocational training and guidance and equality in terms of conditions
of work. Men and women should not be discriminated against, either directly or indirectly. This
means that, for example, a law cannot prohibit women to access a vocational training course just
because they are women or employers cannot intentionally hire only men. It also means that a law
that allocates a family allowance to the head of the household may discriminate against women
when in practice (or by law) the head of the household is always considered the man or husband.
The Royal Government of the Kingdom of Cambodia ratified both Conventions.
The Constitution, article 36.1, states that Khmer citizens of either sex shall have the right to choose
any employment according to their ability and to the needs of the society. And article 36.2 states
that Khmer citizen of either sex shall receive equal pay for equal work.
The Labour Code 1997, chapter 1, section 2 deals with non-discrimination. It states: “No employer
shall consider on account of race, colour, sex, creed, religion, political opinion, birth, social origin or
membership of workers’ union of the exercise of union activities; to be the invocation in order to
make a decision on: hiring, defining and assigning of work, vocational training, advancement,
promotion, remuneration, granting social benefits or discipline or termination of employment
contract”. In other words: discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, creed, religion, political
opinion, birth, social origin and being an active member of a workers’ union is explicitly prohibited
with regard to:
• job security
• access to employment
• access to training
• career advancement
• salary and pay
• working condition and social benefits
• discipline and termination of job contract.
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