The Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training has announced allowance payments for more than 33,000 suspended workers from the garment and tourism sectors.

The workers are from 111 factories forced to suspend operations due to a lack of orders because of Covid-19. The allowances will be transferred via Wing agents.

The Ministry of Labour said in a notice on Tuesday: “Wing (Cambodia) Limited Specialised Bank will send messages to phone numbers of workers who gave information to the ministry.”

The notice said the allowances will be paid in Cambodian riel with the amount based on the number of employment contracts.

An allowance of 60,750 riel ($15) is for suspended employment contracts from seven to 10 days. An allowance of 121,500 riel is for 11 to 20 days and 162,000 riel is for workers suspended from 21 days to a month.

The notice said Wing would transfer the allowance back to the government in case a worker is not paid the allowance within 10 days after receiving messages from the bank.

To be paid the allowances, the Ministry of Labour advised workers to take along their Khmer ID and phone numbers.

“[People] are not required to pay service fees to Wing agents when the allowance is paid,” the ministry said.

It advised workers to contact it for more information if they do not receive any messages from Wing.

Labour ministry spokesperson Heng Sour told The Post on Tuesday that sending the messages directly is a way to encourage workers to get the allowances on time.

Programme coordinator at the Centre for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights Khun Tharo told The Post on Tuesday that he welcomed the speedy methods of paying the allowances as it helps reduce the burdens faced by the affected workers.

However, he said the allowances should cover workers in the tourism sector or tour agencies apart from the garment, textile and footwear sectors. “We want it to cover workers in other sectors like service and construction too,” he said.