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Laos - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Vientiane

 

CLIMATE

Tropical monsoon climate with the rainy season from May to November and the dry season from December to April.

 

LANGUAGES

Lao (official), French, English, and various ethnic languages.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Laos’ legal system is based on traditional customs, French legal norms and procedures, and Socialist practice.

 

CURRENCY

Laos Kip (1 USD = 7,931.20 LAK as of May 1, 2002).

 

LAOS - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

LAOS - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Vientiane

19 Rue Bartholonie

B.P. 114

Vientiane, Laos P.D.R.

Telephone: [856] (21) 212581

Fax: [856] (21) 212584

http://usembassy.state.gov/laos/

 

Embassy of Lao PDR at Washington D.C.

2222 S Street, N.W.

Washington D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 332-6416

Fax: (612) 332-4923

http://www.laoembassy.com/

 

LAOS - HOLIDAYS

LAOS – LEAVE

Maternity Leave: 90 days – 100% of pay (paid by social security).

 

LAOS - MINIMUM AGE

Under the Labor Code, children under age 15 may not be recruited for employment, except to work for their families, provided that such children are not engaged in dangerous or difficult work. Many children help their families on farms or in shops. Child labor is rare in industrial enterprises.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Laos – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

LAOS - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The daily minimum wage is 4,000 kip (approximately $0.53), which is insufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Laos – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

LAOS - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

LAOS - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

 

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

Under the law, labor unions may be formed in private enterprises as long as they operate within the framework of the officially sanctioned Federation of Lao Trade Unions (FLTU), which in turn is controlled by the LPRP. Most of the FLTU's approximately 77,000 members work in the public sector.

 

The State employs the majority of salaried workers, although this situation is changing as the Government privatizes state enterprises and otherwise reduces the number of its employees. Subsistence farmers make up an estimated 85 percent of the work force.

 

Strikes are not prohibited by law, but the Government's ban on subversive activities or destabilizing demonstrations makes a strike unlikely, and none were reported during the year. However, the Labor Code does not prohibit temporary work stoppages.

 

With advice from the International Labor Organization (ILO), including a foreign expert provided by the ILO to work with the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the Government in 1994 revised the Labor Code in an effort to clarify the rights and obligations of workers and employers. However, the 2001 Report of the ILO Committee of Experts cited the Government for its failure to submit reports on ratified conventions required of member states. Furthermore, the Government has not replied to comments from the Committee from 7 years ago.

 

The FLTU is free to engage in contacts with foreign labor organizations, which during the year included contacts with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Trade Unions and the Asia-Pacific American Labor Alliance. The FLTU is a member of the World Federation of Trade Unions.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

There is no right to organize and bargain collectively. The Labor Code stipulates that disputes be resolved through workplace committees composed of employers, representatives of the local labor union, and representatives of the FLTU, with final authority residing in the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare. Labor disputes reportedly are infrequent. The Government sets wages and salaries for government employees, while management sets wages and salaries for private business employees.

 

The Labor Code stipulates that employers may not fire employees for conducting trade union activities, for lodging complaints against employers about labor law implementation, or for cooperating with officials on labor law implementation and labor disputes. Workplace committees are one mechanism used for resolving complaints.

 

There are no export processing zones. A law to establish a special economic zone in Savannakhet province is under consideration.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The Labor Code prohibits forced labor except in time of war or national disaster, during which time the State may conscript laborers. The Code also prohibits forced or bonded labor by children under age 15, and generally this is enforced effectively; however, trafficking in women and children is a problem and reports that children are being lured into other countries for sexual exploitation and slave labor continued.

 

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

Under the Labor Code, children under age 15 may not be recruited for employment, except to work for their families, provided that such children are not engaged in dangerous or difficult work. Many children help their families on farms or in shops. Child labor is rare in industrial enterprises. The Ministries of Interior and Justice are responsible for enforcing these provisions, but enforcement is ineffective due to a lack of inspectors and other resources. Some garment factories reportedly employ a very small number of underage girls. The Government has not ratified ILO Convention 182 against the worst forms of child labor. The Labor Code prohibits forced and bonded labor performed by children under age 15, and this provision of the law generally is enforced effectively; however, there were reports that children were lured into sexual exploitation and slavery abroad.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The Labor Code provides for a workweek limited to 48 hours (36 hours for employment in dangerous activities). The Code also provides for at least 1 day of rest per week. The daily minimum wage is $0.53 (4,000 kip), which is insufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. Most civil servants receive inadequate pay. However, few families in the wage economy depend on only one member for income. Some piecework employees, especially on construction sites, earn less than the minimum wage.

 

The Labor Code provides for safe working conditions and higher compensation for dangerous work. Employers are responsible for all expenses for a worker injured or killed on the job, a requirement generally fulfilled by employers in the formal economic sector. The Labor Code also mandates extensive employer responsibility for those disabled while at work. During the year, this law was enforced adequately. Although workplace inspections reportedly have increased over the past several years, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare lacks the personnel and budgetary resources to enforce the Labor Code effectively. The Labor Code has no specific provision allowing workers to remove themselves from a dangerous situation without jeopardizing their employment.

 

There are a number of illegal immigrants in the country, particularly from Vietnam, and they are vulnerable to exploitation by employers. Some illegal immigrant Vietnamese children work selling goods on the streets of Vientiane.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The Penal Code prohibits abduction and trade in persons as well as the constraint, procuring, and prostitution of persons; however, trafficking in persons, particularly women and children, is a problem. Laos is primarily a country of origin for trafficking in persons and to a lesser extent, a transit country. Although there is no reliable data available on the scope and severity of the problem, rough estimates indicate that from 15,000 to 20,000 Lao girls and young women are trafficked annually for purposes of prostitution mostly to Thailand; some are trafficked to China. Some young men are also victims. Additionally, as many as 100,000 citizens annually travel to Thailand to participate in seasonal agricultural labor and some urban labor as well. Many of these citizens are illegally in Thailand and vulnerable to exploitation; some are trafficked only after their arrival in Thailand. A much smaller number of foreign nationals are transited through Laos, including Burmese to China and Thailand, and Vietnamese to Thailand. In recent years, highland minority women from the interior of the country have become the group most vulnerable to traffickers.

 

LAOS - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The Labor Code provides for a workweek limited to 48 hours (36 hours for employment in dangerous activities). The Code also provides for at least 1 day of rest per week.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Laos – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)