A spokesman for the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training said around 300 workers have accepted the government's payment of benefits to them after they were left without jobs when Canteran Apparel Cambodia Co Ltd closed and its owner allegedly fled.
However, some of the workers have continued to protest, saying they plan to file a lawsuit demanding additional compensation beyond what the labour ministry is offering.
Ministry spokesman Heng Sour told reporters that as of August 24, about 300 out of the 420 workers formerly employed by Canteran Apparel – located in Chaom Chao I commune’s Trapaing Thloeng 3 village of the capital’s Por Sen Chey district – had already come to get their wages and seniority payments, for which the ministry had provided more than $600,000 in funding.
Sour said some workers still did not understand how the payment of benefits works when a factory goes bankrupt or closes due to the owner fleeing.
"The ministry has implemented this policy in many factory closings and the payments provided are based on the labour law. In the event of bankruptcy or an employer absconding, the workers will receive three benefit payments – final monthly salaries, two seniority payments for that year and their remaining annual leave converted to cash.
"Separately, compensation for mental anguish in a legal sense means that the employer took actions that affected the honour and dignity of their workers. When a factory goes bankrupt, it generally means that all the workers are laid off at the same time and no one has been treated unfairly.
"But if there are 1,000 employees in one factory and only a few workers or a dozen workers who have been fired improperly or for no cause, the owner may have liability in court for wrongdoing that has affected the workers' honour and dignity, which they may have to compensate them for," he explained.
Sour said after the Canteran Apparel workers claimed that the owner did not go bankrupt and managed to open a new factory near the old location, the ministry investigated the two factories and found that they were not related to each other.
However, he noted that workers could still file a complaint to the court to further investigate the case if there was any evidence proving it was the same owner. So far, he added, the ministry's findings had indicated otherwise.
"We have made it clear that the factory where the workers are said to have the same boss [as the closed factory] has denied having any contact with [the closed factory's owner]. After the factory declared that they were not related, the ministry checked the registries and other data and determined that they were not in fact related. But if you have more evidence that they are related, please file a complaint with the court to investigate whether the factories are related to each other or not," he said.
Back on August 17, Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the labour ministry to compensate the Canteran Apparel workers after the factory owner had closed down for months, prompting them to seek the government’s intervention.
San Sopha, a representative of the Canteran Apparel workers' union, told The Post on August 25 that some workers still intended to file a complaint with the court to investigate the relationship between the two factories and to demand more compensation from the factory owner.
She also said that workers continued to guard the factory day and night to prevent the theft of factory materials, while all workers agreed to receive the three benefit payments provided by the government for their daily expenses.
"We are still in a position to sue for two more benefit payments because we understand that the factory is not bankrupt. The closure of the factory is due to the fact that the employer has to supply another factory. I have been working and living with this owner for 22 years and some of us have for 26 years, and I know very well that these two factories are related to each other," she said.