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Myanmar - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Yangon (Rangoon)

 

CLIMATE

Tropical monsoon climate; cloudy, rainy, hot, humid summers (southwest monsoon, June to September); less cloudy, scant rainfall, mild temperatures, lower humidity during winter (northeast monsoon, December to April).

 

LANGUAGES

Burmese, and minority ethnic groups have their own languages.

 

LEGAL SYSTEM

Myanmar has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction.

 

CURRENCY

Myanmar Kyat (1 USD = 6.70000 MMK as of May 15, 2002).

 

MYANMAR - COST-OF-LIVING

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

 

MYANMAR - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

U.S. Embassy at Yangon

581 Merchant St. (GPO 521)

Box B, APO AP 96546

Yangon, Myanmar

Telephone: [95] (1) 282055

Fax: [95] (1) 280409

 

Embassy of the Union of Myanmar at Washington D.C.

2300 S Street N.W.

Washington D.C. 20008

Telephone: (202) 332-9044

Fax: (202) 332-9046

 

MYANMAR - HOLIDAYS

 

Also, variable Buddhist festivals, such as Full Moon of Tabaung, Thingyan or Water Festival, Full Moon of Kason, Vaso of Beginning of Buddhist Lent, end of Buddhist Lent, Tazaugdaing Festival of Lights, and Myanmar New Year's Day.

 

MYANMAR – LEAVE

Maternity Leave: 12 weeks – 66.7% of pay (paid by social security).

 

MYANMAR - MINIMUM AGE

Although the law sets a minimum age of 13 for the employment of children, in practice the law is not enforced.

 

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

 

MYANMAR - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

Only government employees and employees of a few traditional industries are covered by minimum wage provisions. The minimum daily wage for salaried public employees is 100 Kyats ($0.25) for what is in effect a 6-hour workday. Various subsidies and allowances supplement this sum.

 

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

 

MYANMAR - REMUNERATION

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

 

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

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The 1926 Trade Unions Act, which remained in effect, permits workers to form of trade unions only with the prior consent of the Government; however, no free trade unions exist in the country, and the junta has dissolved even the government-controlled union that existed before 1988.

 

By law workers generally are prohibited from striking, although a small number of workers are provided the right to strike. The last reported strike was in 2000, when an employer retracted its promise to pay piece rates. Thirty workers were detained, many for up to 3 months. All lost their jobs.

 

In June the Committee on the Application of Convention and Recommendations of the International Labor Conference once again expressed profound regret regarding the persistence of serious discrepancies between the law and practice with respect to freedom of association. The Committee also criticized the Government for not implementing the provisions of ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, which the Government ratified in 1955. In his testimony to the Committee, a government representative said that the Trade Unions Law was being revised, but that he could not provide the draft text at the present time.

 

No unions in the country are affiliated internationally. The Government forbids seafarers who find work on foreign vessels through the Seafarers Employment Control Division from contacts with the International Transport Workers' Federation and the Government often refused to document seafarers stranded abroad (see Section 2.d.).

 

In 1989 the U.S. suspended the country's eligibility for trade concessions under the Generalized System of Preferences program until steps were taken to afford its labor force internationally recognized worker rights.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

Workers do not have the right to organize and bargain collectively. The Government's Central Arbitration Board, which once provided a means for settling major labor disputes, has been dormant since 1988. Township-level labor supervisory committees exist to address minor labor concerns.

 

The Government unilaterally sets wages in the public sector. In the private sector, market forces generally set wages. However, the Government has pressured joint ventures not to pay salaries greater than those of ministers or other senior employees. Some joint ventures circumvented this with supplemental pay or special incentive systems. Foreign firms generally set wages near those of the domestic private sector but followed the example of joint ventures in awarding supplemental wages and benefits.

 

There are no export processing zones (EPZ's). However, there are special military-owned industrial parks, such as Pyin-Ma-Bin, near Rangoon, which attracts foreign investors. Another example is the 2,000-acre Hlaingthaya Industrial Zone in Rangoon; at least four companies are known to operate on its premises (see Section 6.c.).

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

Forced or compulsory labor remains a widespread and serious problem. Although the Penal Code provides for the punishment of persons who impose forced labor on others, there are no known cases of the application of this provision. Throughout the country, international observers have confirmed that the Government routinely forces citizens to work on construction and maintenance projects. The law does not specifically prohibit forced and bonded labor by children, and forced labor by children occurs.

 

In 2000 the International Labor Conference determined that the Government had not taken effective action to deal with the "widespread and systematic" use of forced labor in the country and, for the first time in its history, called on all ILO members to review their relations with the Government and take appropriate measures to ensure that the Government would not be able to take advantage of such relations to perpetuate or extend the system of forced labor. The Government at first rejected the ILO's actions and statements; however, in September and October, it allowed an ILO assessment team to visit the country to review the status of the Government's efforts to eliminate forced labor.

 

Discussions between the ILO and the Government have continued. The ILO High-Level Team, following its 3-week visit to review forced labor in September, noted that the Government appeared sincere. However, the team found very little progress in practice and that forced labor remains a serious problem, especially in the ethnic areas near the borders and in villages near military camps. When the ILO Governing Body released its November report, it stated that it would again review the situation in March 2002 to determine whether the Government had made any progress.

 

In March the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) found that women, children, and elderly persons, were required to perform forced labor; that porters often were sent into dangerous military situations, rarely received medical treatment, and almost never were compensated; that forced laborers frequently were beaten; and that some women performing forced labor were raped or otherwise abused sexually by soldiers (see Section 1.c.). The ICFTU report also included several cases of the military pressuring on civilians to conceal the incidence and extent of forced labor from the ILO investigation team during the year.

 

In November the ICFTU submitted extensive new evidence to the ILO that the country's military authorities continued to resort to forced labor on a massive scale, including forced portering for the army, forced labor on roads and railroads, and forced supply of construction materials.

 

Many detailed credible reports indicate that in recent years, especially in areas inhabited chiefly by members of the Chin, Karen, Karenni, and Shan ethnic groups, army units have increased their use of forced labor for logistical support purposes, including to build, repair, or maintain army camps and roads, and to plant crops, cut or gather wood, cook, clean, launder, weave baskets, fetch water for army units and -- in the case of young women -- to provide sexual services to soldiers. The number of reports of such practices has increased since 1997, when the junta required regional military commanders to become more self-sufficient (see Sections 1.f. and 1.g.).

 

Authorities continued to impose forced labor, chiefly, although not exclusively, on rural populations, and imposed forced labor quotas on villages, households, or persons directly or through village headmen. Government authorities often allowed households or persons to substitute money or food for contributions of labor for infrastructure projects, but widespread rural poverty forced most households to contribute labor. The Government allocated funds to regional and local authorities to pay wages to at least some of the civilians on whom it imposed labor obligations; however, these wages were set at levels below the prevailing wage, and reports indicated that local authorities commonly did not disburse allocated funds to workers. Especially in ethnic minority areas, the army often deployed soldiers to guard persons engaged in forced labor; there also were reports that soldiers often beat and occasionally killed workers (see Sections 1.a. and 1.c.). In October Amnesty International stated that "the military frequently forces men, women and children from ethnic minorities to carry heavy loads over tough terrain for days or weeks at a time or to work on construction projects such as building railways, roads and dams." The organization reported that "hundreds" had died from exhaustion and beatings.

 

Government troops also forced villagers to eradicate opium poppy fields.

 

There are many specific examples of forced labor. According to the SHRF, since August hundreds of persons from 16 to 17 villages in Wan Zing tract have been working daily to fix a major road, approximately 40 miles long. Villagers are required to work, provide their own food, and bring their own working tools. Villagers reportedly claim that the use of forced labor by the local military authorities has increased. Beginning in February 2000, residents from the townships of Monywa, Kane, Min Kin, and Kalewa in Sagaing Division were forced to construct a new road along the Chindwin River from Monywa to Kalewa. Since May 2000, several villagers in Mawleik Township of Sagaing Division were forced to provide labor for the repair of the Thet Ke Kyin Homalin highway and bridges. Households that are unable to provide labor are forced to pay $0.75 to $6.75 (300 Kyat to 2,700 Kyat) per household. There also were reports that the Government used forced labor to construct infrastructure to support tourism. According to credible sources, in February 2000, the SPDC announced plans to develop the Karen hill town of Than Daung Cyi as a tourist "hill resort." Immediately after the announcement, new army battalions moved in, land was confiscated from the town's residents and surrounding villages, and persons began forced labor on a road to the hot springs at Ker Weh. In addition, since late 1998, the Government has used large amounts of forced labor on a project to double the country's cultivated land by developing 22 million acres of wetlands and virgin land. According to SHRF, SPDC troops have been confiscating lands, mostly woodlands, for military camps. For example, according to SHRF, since July 50 to 60 persons in Nam-Zarng township have been forced by SPDC troops to dig approximately one mile long irrigation ditch through a stretch of rice fields of the local farmers. In 2000 authorities in a township in Sagaing Division reportedly forced villagers to clear 1,000 acres of land or pay a fine of more than $8.75 (3,500 Kyat) per household. Authorities in Irrawaddy Division ordered residents of a village both to clear over 100 acres of land as part of a wetlands reclamation project, and to pay for equipment needed to clear the land.

 

There also have been credible reports that government officials and security forces compelled both Buddhists and non-Buddhists to contribute money, food, and uncompensated labor to build, renovate, or maintain Buddhist shrines or monuments. There also were reports in 2000 that forced labor was used to dismantle temples and monasteries (see Section 2.c.).

 

The army continued to force citizens--including women and children--to work as porters in military actions against ethnic insurgents. This practice continued to lead to illness and death (see Sections 1.a., 1.c., 6.d., and 6.f.).

 

Both the 1999 report of the ILO's Director General and reports by NGO's, including Amnesty International, described dozens of cases of forced porterage. Sources working with refugees among ethnic groups in Thailand also reported increased forced porterage during the last three months of the year and widespread disregard for the ban on forced labor. According to local reports, in Northern Rakhine State, all of the men and boys of a village between the ages of 7 and 35 contribute 10 days per month of labor to the military. Local villages reportedly must provide males to the authorities every 2 weeks to serve as porters and to carry food and ammunition toward the border with Bangladesh to military camps. According to SHRF, in mid-June, SPDC troops forcibly conscripted 250 civilian porters, including 108 women and children, many of whom were between the ages of 8 and 16. Some children were forced to carry 6 cans of milk and some 10 rounds of mortar shells each, and were kicked and beaten when they could not move fast enough (see Section 1.g. and 6.d.). Rohingyas claim that their group is the only one in the area whose members are forced to serve as porters for the army, and that the nearby model villages that are populated by Buddhist Burmans from the cities are exempt from portering, forced labor, and forced contributions of foodstuffs (see Sections 2.d. and 5).

 

Parents routinely called upon their children to help fulfill their households' forced labor obligations, without government opposition (see Section 6.d.).

 

There were numerous, detailed, and credible reports during the year that forced labor, including forced child labor, was used directly in growing, harvesting, and transporting some crops, chiefly for army units. Widespread forced labor, including forced child labor, continued to contribute materially to the construction and maintenance not only of irrigation facilities important to the cultivation of some export crops, including rice, but also of roads and some railroads important for the transportation of exports to ports. Forced labor, including forced child labor, has contributed materially to the construction of industrial parks subsequently used largely to produce manufactured exports, including garments. According to two eyewitness accounts, forced labor was used to develop the Hlaingthaya Industrial Zone in Rangoon in 2000 (see Section 6.b.). There have been many credible reports that forced labor, including forced child labor, has been used widely since 1998 to clear and drain virgin lands and wetlands for the cultivation of crops, many of which, according to public descriptions of the Government's economic plans, are intended largely for export.

 

The Ministry of Home Affairs also operates forced prison labor camps for porterage, quarries, agriculture, livestock farms, roads and infrastructure, and other activities. Inmates sent to labor camps reportedly serve sentences that range from 6 months to 10 years; most are nonviolent offenders. The Government's use of prison labor reportedly has increased significantly in recent years. The prison labor camp system is reportedly the main recruiting ground for the military's most severely mistreated forced laborers, such as porters who die en route and civilians who are sent into mine fields. The mortality rate of prisoners in labor camps is reportedly extremely high (see Section 1.c.).

 

The authorities reportedly round up street children, provide them with military training, and forcibly conscript them (see Sections 5 and 6.d.).

 

Trafficking in women and girls to neighboring countries for the purpose of prostitution remained a serious problem (see Sections 5 and 6.f.).

 

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

 

Although the law sets a minimum age of 13 for the employment of children, in practice the law is not enforced. The Government has not ratified the ILO Convention on the Minimum Age requirement. Child labor has become increasingly prevalent and visible. Working children are highly visible in cities, mostly working for small or family enterprises. In the countryside, children work in family agricultural activities. Children working in the urban informal sector in Rangoon and Mandalay often begin work at young ages. Children are hired at lower pay rates than adults performing similar work. In the urban informal sector, child workers are found mostly in food processing, street vending refuse-collecting, light manufacturing, and as tea shop attendants. According to government statistics, 6 percent of urban children work, but only 4 percent of working children earn wages.

 

The law does not prohibit specifically forced and bonded labor by children; while bonded labor is not practiced, forced labor by children occurs (see Section 6.c.). The military Government reportedly uses children as porters in infrastructure development and in providing other services to military forces (see Section 6.c.). The authorities reportedly often round up orphans and street children in Rangoon and other cities and force them into military service (see Section 6.c.). Children also are forced to serve as porters in combat areas, in which beatings and other mistreatment reportedly occur (see Section 6.f.).

 

Households reportedly satisfy forced labor quotas by sending their least productive workers (usually children), and government authorities have accepted such workers in satisfaction of those quotas. Children often build or repair roads and irrigation facilities. In recent years, there have been growing numbers of reports that military units in various ethnic minority areas either forced children to perform support services, such as fetching water, cleaning, cutting bamboo, or cultivating food crops, or allowed households or villages to use children to satisfy army orders to perform such services (see Sections 1.f. and 6.c.).

 

Trafficking in girls to neighboring countries for the purpose of forced prostitution remained a serious problem (see Sections 5 and 6.f.).

 

The Government has not ratified ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor.

 

There are credible reports that insurgents also used women and children as porters.

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

Only government employees and employees of a few traditional industries are covered by minimum wage provisions. The minimum daily wage for salaried public employees is $0.25 (100 Kyats) for what is in effect a 6-hour workday. Various subsidies and allowances supplement this sum. Neither the minimum wage nor the higher wages earned even by senior government officials provides a worker and family with a decent standard of living. Low and falling real wages in the public sector have fostered widespread corruption. In the private sector, urban laborers earn approximately $0.50 per day (200 Kyat), while rural agricultural workers earn approximately half that rate. Some private sector workers earn substantially more; a skilled factory worker earns approximately $12 per day (4,800 Kyat).

 

Surplus labor conditions, a poor economy, and lack of protection by the Government continue to dictate substandard conditions for workers. The 1964 Law on Fundamental Workers Rights and the 1951 Factories Act regulate working conditions. There are legally prescribed 5-day, 35-hour workweek for employees in the public sector and a 6-day, 44-hour workweek for private and state enterprise employees, with overtime paid for additional work. The law also allows for a 24-hour rest period per week, and workers have 21 paid holidays per year. However, in practice such provisions benefited only a small portion of the country's labor force, since most of the labor force was engaged in rural agriculture.

 

Numerous health and safety regulations exist, but in practice the Government has not made the necessary resources available to enforce the regulations. Although workers may in principle remove themselves from hazardous conditions, in practice many workers cannot expect to retain their jobs if they do so.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

Although there are laws--including laws against abduction--that prohibit some aspects of trafficking in persons, no law is known specifically to prohibit trafficking, and trafficking in women and children is a severe problem. Trafficking for purposes of forced labor and porters is also a severe problem.

 

Burma is a country of origin for trafficking, primarily of women and girls, to Thailand and other countries for sexual exploitation and, factory labor, and as household servants. There also is internal trafficking of women and girls from areas of extreme poverty to areas in which prostitution is common, primarily in major cities and along the borders with Thailand, China, and India. Men and boys also reportedly are trafficked to other countries for sexual exploitation and labor, but this appears to be a small percentage of overall trafficking.

 

Thailand is believed to be the primary destination for trafficked Burmese citizens; other destinations include China, India, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, and countries in the Middle East. While most observers believe that the number of victims is at least several thousand per year, there are no reliable estimates of the total number of trafficked persons. The Government acknowledged that the problem exists and began creating a framework to address it. However, it has not committed sufficient resources to combat trafficking. The Government has not collected meaningful data on the incidence of trafficking, nor has it made any serious effort to arrest or prosecute traffickers. The Government has not facilitated the repatriation of trafficking victims or worked with international NGO's or other governments to address the problem. Corruption among local government officials is widespread and includes complicity in the trafficking of persons. There is evidence of government fraud in connection with the trafficking in persons, mostly resulting from the Government's control over persons.

 

MYANMAR - SOCIAL SECURITY

Social Security Office of International Programs:

 

http://www.ssa.gov/SSA_Home.html

 

MYANMAR - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The legally prescribed workweek in the public sector is 5 days, 35 hours. The legally prescribed workweek for private and state enterprise employees is 6 days, 44 hours, with overtime paid for additional work. The law also allows for a 24-hour rest period per week, and workers have 21 paid holidays per year.

 

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