Employee benefitsin Cambodia

The National Social Security Fund, Cambodia’s statutory social-insurance fund, pays for covered treatment at contracted health facilities. Benefits include outpatient and inpatient care, tests, medical imaging, rehabilitation, maternity care and emergency referral. Treatment outside its recognised network is reimbursed only for emergencies, with medical documents and receipts. The scheme has exclusions, including routine dental work, glasses/contact lenses, general check-ups and specified elective treatments; emergency treatment can change the exclusion rules. Membership, contribution history and the type of service determine eligibility.

Employer medical insurance can extend access beyond statutory social-insurance care. CARE Cambodia provides contracted employees with health insurance, personal-accident cover and medical check-ups. Its health cover includes qualifying spouses and children aged 14 days to 25 years. Smart Axiata also lists health insurance and outpatient medical expenses among employee benefits. The employer policy and insurer contract determine covered treatment, limits and employee costs.

CARE Cambodia’s employee health package gives access to a free, confidential 24-hour employee-assistance helpline for counselling and legal support. Employees access the service through the employer’s health plan.

Employees participate in statutory occupational-risk protection through the National Social Security Fund, Cambodia’s statutory social-insurance fund. Employers fund the scheme separately from ordinary medical insurance. Work-related injuries and occupational illnesses can trigger medical treatment and income-protection benefits under that scheme. Ordinary employer health insurance is a separate benefit and does not replace registration or contribution duties.

At the end of a fixed-duration contract, employees receive severance under the applicable collective agreement, with a minimum of 5% of wages paid during the contract where the agreement does not set the amount. An employer ending the contract early outside permitted grounds can owe damages at least equal to wages that would have been earned through its end. Early mutual termination must be recorded before a labour inspector; serious misconduct and force majeure have separate treatment. For a contract longer than six months, the employer gives ten days’ advance notice of expiry or non-renewal; for a contract longer than one year, the period is 15 days. Failure to give notice can extend the contract or change its legal status.

Employees on an undetermined-duration contract receive ongoing seniority indemnity equal to 15 days of wages and other benefits per year. The employer pays 7.5 days in June and 7.5 days in December. In the first year, a worker employed for one to six consecutive months receives the 7.5-day instalment. This system applies from 2019 and differs from fixed-term severance and from a voluntary 13th salary. Historic service before 2019 has separate back-pay rules.

CARE Cambodia enrols employees in group life insurance from their first day at no additional employee cost. This employer-funded protection is separate from statutory social insurance and pays according to its policy terms. Smart Axiata’s 2023 sustainability disclosure also describes private life cover.

CARE Cambodia provides personal-accident insurance to contracted employees, covering disability, injury and death for the employee. Smart Axiata also lists accident insurance as an employment benefit. Insured events, payout limits and territorial cover follow the selected policy.

CARE Cambodia contributes to a provident fund, a long-term savings arrangement for contracted employees and their dependants. Its policy allows access every five years or when employment ends. The fund provides supplementary long-term savings alongside statutory pension contributions.

Eligible CARE Cambodia employees can request a salary advance in an emergency. The advance brings forward salary and is repayable under the employer’s repayment terms; it is separate from an emergency grant.

Employees earn 1.5 working days of paid annual leave for each month of continuous service, equivalent to 18 working days over 12 months. Leave increases by one working day for every three years of service. The right to take accrued leave normally begins after one year; on earlier termination the worker receives proportional compensation. Public holidays and sick leave are separate from annual leave. Before leave starts, the employer pays an allowance based on the preceding 12 months’ wages, bonuses, benefits and benefits in kind, excluding expense reimbursements, and no less than normal pay.

A medically certified illness can suspend the employment contract for up to six months, with a possible extension until a replacement is appointed. Suspension removes the ordinary obligation to work and pay wages unless another rule, agreement or benefit requires payment. Employer sick-pay policies and social-insurance cash benefits therefore need to be assessed separately from this period of protected absence.

Eligible employees receive a daily sickness allowance from the National Social Security Fund, Cambodia’s statutory social-insurance fund. The allowance is 70% of the daily average contributory wage when prescribed treatment requires more than seven consecutive days away from work, counted from the first day of treatment. Payment is limited to 180 days within 12 months, excluding maternity leave. The worker must still work for a registered employer and have either two consecutive contribution months or at least six contribution months in the preceding 12 months. The contributory-wage average uses up to six months before illness and is divided by 30 to calculate a daily amount. The contributory wage is the official salary base used for social-insurance benefits, which can differ from actual earnings.

Special leave addresses events directly affecting an employee’s immediate family, including marriage or bereavement. Up to seven days are recognised in the Labour Law’s service-accrual provisions. The employer may deduct this leave from unused annual leave. If annual leave has already been used, the employer cannot deduct it from the next year’s entitlement; missed hours can instead be made up under the applicable ministerial rules. This is distinct from a separate employer promise of paid wedding, partner or bereavement leave.

CARE Cambodia includes an enhanced sick-leave policy among its family-friendly employment arrangements. The policy defines leave and payment terms alongside statutory social-insurance benefits.

Employees are entitled to 90 days of maternity leave. The employer pays 50% of wages, including applicable additional compensation, when the employee has at least one year of uninterrupted service; other benefits in kind remain available. For the first two months after returning, the employee is assigned light work. Dismissal during maternity leave, or notice ending within that leave, is prohibited.

An employee insured through the National Social Security Fund, Cambodia’s statutory social-insurance fund, qualifies for a maternity cash allowance after at least nine contribution months in the 12 months before delivery. It pays 70% of the daily average contributory wage for 90 days of prenatal and postnatal leave. The average is based on up to six contribution months before delivery. This fund payment has different eligibility and a different salary base from the employer’s 50% maternity-pay obligation. The contributory wage is the official salary base used for social-insurance benefits, which can differ from actual earnings.

For one year after childbirth, a breastfeeding mother receives one hour during working hours each day to feed her child. It can be split into two 30-minute periods and is separate from ordinary breaks. Employers with at least 100 women or girls must establish a nursing room and a childcare centre within or near the workplace. Where the required onsite centre cannot accommodate children over 18 months, the employer pays the cost of another childcare centre.

CARE Cambodia publishes enhanced maternity leave within its family-friendly employment policies. The employer’s policy determines the additional leave and pay above statutory entitlements.

CARE Cambodia includes paternity leave among its family-friendly employment policies. The employer sets eligibility, leave length and pay through its policy.

CARE Cambodia publishes an enhanced adoption-leave policy as part of its family-friendly employment arrangements. The policy sets eligibility, leave duration and payment for employees adopting a child.

CARE Cambodia pays employees a 13th salary equal to one month’s basic salary after 12 consecutive months, using the March basic-salary amount. Employees with shorter service receive a proportional payment. A 13th salary is distinct from mandatory seniority indemnity and depends on the employer’s contractual arrangements.

Smart Axiata lists an annual bonus and a monthly incentive among its employee benefits. These are additional remuneration arrangements with their own performance, service and payment conditions. A retention or performance bonus is separate from mandatory seniority indemnity and does not cancel that obligation.

Smart Axiata provides employee phone credit as an employment benefit. The employer determines the credit amount and eligible use. This is separate from a general home-internet or remote-work equipment allowance.

Flexible working arrangements can allow employees to adjust schedules for personal needs, childcare and travel outside rush hours. CARE Cambodia publishes a flexible-working policy for these purposes. Smart Axiata’s 2023 employee-benefits disclosure includes flexible working hours and remote working. The agreed role, schedule and employer policy determine how the arrangement works.

CARE Cambodia offers a study-leave policy within its employment arrangements. Approved leave supports employees’ learning alongside their job; the policy determines duration, pay and course approval.

Smart Axiata provides training for employees’ roles and responsibilities and lists education sponsorship. These benefits support job skills and longer-term learning. The employer sets course approval, funding and any service conditions.

The Labour Law covers people who work for remuneration under another person’s direction and management. An independent service arrangement must be assessed by how the work is actually performed. A contractor agreement does not remove employee rights when the relationship meets the employee definition. Genuine independent contractors set their service fees and contractual time off separately from employee leave and dismissal protections.

The general minimum employment age is 15. Children aged 12 to 15 may perform only permitted light work that does not harm their health, development or schooling. Work that can harm a young person’s health, safety or morals has a minimum age of 18.

An employer covered by the Labour Law declares the opening of its enterprise to the labour ministry. Hiring and dismissal must be declared in writing within 15 days. An enterprise with at least eight workers must establish internal work rules, which set workplace employment arrangements alongside the law and contracts.

Employment contracts may be written or verbal, but a fixed-duration contract must be in writing and identify its end date. A contract that fails the fixed-duration requirements becomes indefinite. Pay, job duties, working hours, leave and termination terms should be clear to both parties.

Employers covered by the Labour Law pay wages twice a month. The first instalment is 50% of the month’s net wage in the second week. The remaining net wage, remuneration and benefits are paid in the fourth week. This schedule applies from January 2019.

From 1 January 2026, the monthly minimum wage is USD 210 for regular workers in the garment, footwear and travel-goods sectors. This sector rate must not be treated as a universal professional or technology-role salary floor. Covered workers also retain applicable sector bonuses and allowances.

The ordinary legal limit is eight hours a day and 48 hours a week. Employees must receive at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest, normally on Sunday, and may not ordinarily be used for more than six days a week. Urgent or exceptional overtime is paid at 150% of the normal hourly rate; overtime at night, from 22:00 to 05:00, or during weekly rest is paid at 200%. Ordinary night work has a 130% rate. A shorter contractual working week can provide more generous terms.

Probation cannot exceed three months for regular employees, two months for specialised workers or one month for non-specialised workers. The period must be no longer than needed to assess the job and the worker’s suitability. The Labour Law exempts contractual probation and internships from the ordinary termination-notice requirement.

Indefinite-contract termination requires written notice and an employer must have a valid reason connected with the worker or the business. Minimum notice is seven days for service under six months, 15 days from six months to two years, one month for over two to five years, two months for over five to ten years, and three months beyond ten years. An employer omitting required notice owes the wages and benefits for that period. Employees receive two fully paid days per week during notice to seek another job. On termination the Labour Law requires wages and indemnities due within 48 hours, and employees may request an employment certificate.

Employers fund statutory health insurance at 2.6% and occupational-risk insurance at 0.8% of the official assumed-wage amount. The contribution table uses wage bands and a maximum assumed monthly wage of KHR 1,200,000, rather than an uncapped percentage of every employee’s actual salary. Health contributions have been fully employer-funded since January 2018. At the top band, the monthly health contribution is KHR 31,200 and the work-injury contribution is KHR 9,600. Pension contributions are separate.

Foreign nationals working in Cambodia need a work permit and employment card from the labour ministry. Immigration permission to enter or remain in Cambodia is a separate requirement. Hiring and renewal planning must distinguish the employer’s foreign-worker quota, the employee’s work authorisation and the applicable visa or stay extension.