You are using an outdated browser and your browsing experience will not be optimal. Please update to the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. Install Microsoft Edge

April 11, 2020

Cambodia Imposes Domestic Travel Restrictions and Other Measures to Limit COVID-19 Transmission

Subscribe to Updates

Domestic Travel Restrictions

On April 9, 2020, the Cambodian government issued travel restrictions within Cambodia to prevent the progression of COVID-19 to the community transmission stage, effective from 12:00 a.m. Thursday, April 9, 2020, to 12:00 a.m. Thursday, April 16, 2020.

During this period, the following are prohibited: 

  • traveling from one province to another;
  • traveling from one district to another (within one province or across provinces); or
  • traveling in or out of Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia.

This order by the Cambodian government, reinforced by an official statement from the Phnom Penh City Hall, emphasized that traveling within Phnom Penh will not be affected by these travel restrictions.

Exceptions

There are, however, some exceptions to these travel restrictions, such as travel by the following vehicles or for the following purposes: 

  • transportation of all kinds of goods;
  • civil servants and members of the armed forces traveling for official business;
  • ambulances of both private and public hospitals;
  • firetrucks;
  • dump trucks;
  • transportation of workers authorized by the labor authorities; or
  • traveling to the closest hospital or health center for emergency treatment with fewer than four people at a time.

Partial Lifting of Domestic Travel Restrictions

After implementing the in-country travel restrictions, on April 10, 2020, the Government of Cambodia decided to lessen the travel restrictions slightly by: 

  • Lifting the travel restrictions between one district to another within the same province. However, the restriction on traveling between provinces remains effective, and therefore crossing between one district in one province to another district in another province is still prohibited; and
  • Treating Phnom Penh and Kandal Province (an area surrounding Phnom Penh) as one region, so that travel within and across Phnom Penh and Kandal Province is permitted. 

Measures for Workplaces

Cambodia’s Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (MLVT) also enacted the following implementation measures for the above restrictions. 

Obligations for Employees

  • Employees traveling between their residences and workplaces on their own must carry their work IDs, and their government-issued IDs or other documents showing their residential addresses. Employees traveling between their residences and workplaces on shared transportation must carry their work IDs and use vehicles that are authorized by the labor authorities. It is ambiguous whether these requirements apply only to employees that need to bypass the travel restrictions (e.g., from one province to another) or if they also apply to those who travel within the permitted areas (e.g., within Phnom Penh and Kandal Province).
  • Employees are required to come to work during the period; otherwise, employees would be considered as committing an act of serious misconduct, which would allow an employer to terminate an employee without any compensation. Presumably, this rule only applies during this domestic travel restriction period, but the MLVT’s notification is also unclear on this matter. Moreover, it is also unclear whether employees who were instructed to work from home, or those who take leave with the permission of their employers, could be considered as committing serious misconduct in this case. 
  • Employees who are at their workplaces must go to their workstations. They must not disturb other employees or disrupt their employers’ business operations. Employees are also reminded not to incite, threaten, or intimidate other employees; otherwise, they will face legal consequences under Cambodian law, such as the Penal Code.

Obligations for Employers

  • Employers must provide vehicle plate numbers to the labor inspector and cooperate with the labor inspector to obtain permits for vehicles transporting their employees. If any transportation service providers refuse to transport employees between their residences and workplaces, employers must terminate their transportation services immediately.
  • Employers must guarantee that all of their employees have work IDs, and reissue IDs to employees if they are lost. Employers must accurately record the attendance of their employees in order to provide this information to the labor inspector and other competent authorities. Again, it is questionable whether an employee who is working from home must be noted accordingly or marked as absent from the workplace. 
  • Any company that does not maintain its production and operations will not be eligible to receive any incentives or financial packages from the government.

Obligations for Employee Transportation Service Providers and Drivers

  • Transportation service providers and drivers must continue to transport employees to and from workplaces; otherwise, their service contracts may be terminated. 
  • In addition, in order to transport employees, transportation service providers must display permits on the front of their vehicles issued by the labor authorities.

Ambiguities

These measures contain several ambiguities that we hope will be addressed in subsequent regulations. 

  • The MLVT notification refers to the governmental orders for the domestic travel restrictions, and thus it could mean that these measures and rules imposed by the MLVT are only applicable during the travel restriction period. However, the MLVT does not expressly limit its application to this period; thus the duration of these measures is uncertain. 
  • It is also unclear whether all measures are applicable to employees who do not need to travel outside of restricted areas (e.g., within a province or within Phnom Penh–Kandal Province area). In particular, it is uncertain whether they need to carry their work IDs and government-issued IDs, or can only travel to work via vehicles authorized by the labor authorities if they do not have their own vehicles. 
  • These measures seem most applicable to employees working in the garment, textile, and footwear production industry, which is a major part of Cambodia’s workforce. However, if these measures are extended to other industries, the measures create a number of uncertainties. For example, if an employer has allowed its employees to work from home, and has supported other social distancing measures, it is not clear whether the employer would now have to require its employees to return to the office to work, or whether the employer must record these employees as absent and report the absent employees to the labor authorities.

Until these ambiguities become clear, companies should err on the side of caution when interpreting these rules to avoid unexpected penalties for noncompliance. 

Download Full Article
Related Professionals

Practices

Employment

Location

RELATED INSIGHTS​ 

February 22, 2021
Following the recent imposition of sanctions on Myanmar individuals and companies by the US, the UK and Canada have now imposed new sanctions. As with the US sanctions, these new measures impact UK and Canadian citizens and companies, and non-UK and non-Canadian companies and citizens with interests in those jurisdictions. The EU has indicated that it is planning to issue similar sanctions in the near future. New UK Sanctions In addition to the 16 individuals already sanctioned by the UK government, on February 18, 2021, the UK government announced that three individuals have been sanctioned for serious human rights violations and are now subject to asset freezes and travel bans. The full list of Myanmar individuals and companies sanctioned by the UK is available on the website of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. Breaches of UK financial sanctions are criminal offences punishable in the UK by up to 7 years imprisonment and heavy fines. New Canadian Sanctions Also on February 18, timed to coincide with the UK sanctions, new Canadian sanctions were imposed on nine individuals. As with the UK, Canada already had a number of individuals in the Myanmar military on its sanctions list, and the new additions bring the total number of individuals sanctioned by Canada to 54. All assets of these individuals in Canada are now frozen, and they are banned from travelling to Canada. Canadian businesses or entities may not do business with any of the 54 individuals. Full details of the impact of the sanctions are available on the Government of Canada’s website, as is a database of the Myanmar individuals and companies subject to them. Breach of Canadian sanctions carries with it up to 5 years’ imprisonment in Canada and/or a large fine. Other Countries The EU is reportedly drawing up sanctions
Read More
January 26, 2021
On January 1, 2021, the government of Vietnam issued Decree No. 152/2020/ND-CP dated December 30, 2020, providing guidance concerning foreigners working in Vietnam (Decree 152). Foreign investors and expatriates should be aware of some notable new points.
Read More
January 12, 2021
Due to the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand since December, 2020, Thailand’s Ministry of Labor recently published two regulations under the Social Security Act (SSA) in the Government Gazette: The Regulation on Entitlement to Compensatory Benefits in the Event of Unemployment Due to Force Majeure from the Pandemic of Dangerous Communicable Disease Under Relevant Law Relating to Communicable Diseases B.E. 2563 (2020) (the Force Majeure Regulation); and The Regulation on Determination of the Amount of Contributions to the Social Security Funds B.E. 2563 (2020) (the SSF Contribution Regulation). Details of the two regulations are provided below. The Force Majeure Regulation This regulation is similar to a previous regulation from April, 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, stating that the definition of force majeure under the Social Security Act B.E. 2533 (1990) (the SSA) includes hazards from pandemics of dangerous communicable diseases (including COVID-19). This definition therefore affords protection to insured persons (i.e., employees) in the event that the COVID-19 pandemic results in their being unable to work, or their employers being unable to operate their business normally. This regulation allows the Social Security Office (SSO) to pay compensation to employees who: are insured persons who qualify to receive compensatory benefit in case of unemployment in accordance with the SSA; have to cease working temporarily during the period from December 19, 2020 onwards; and do not receive wages from their employer during the temporary cessation. This applies only if the circumstances above result from the following force majeure events related to hazards from COVID-19 (or other pandemics of dangerous communicable diseases that affect the public under the Communicable Diseases Act B.E. 2558 (2015)): The employee cannot work, or the employer does not allow the employee to work, because of quarantine or to comply with a COVID-19
Read More
November 3, 2020
Many Thai and international companies have expanded rapidly into Myanmar in recent years, in what had seemed to be an unstoppable expansion of cross-border trade resulting from the country’s emergence back onto the global stage. For those companies, the COVID-19 situation in Myanmar has been a cause for much concern and uncertainty—doubly so for those who had hired staff in the jurisdiction, as a lack of clarity regarding their obligations as employers was compounded by a lack of information on the situation on the ground.
Read More