By Min Ni Kyaw - Apr 29, 2025
He MeT Company Limited garment factory is reportedly employing nearly 300 underage workers and assigning them the same duties as adult workers, according to worker accounts. The factory, which produces clothing for brands such as OUTDOOR, CHAPTER, Pageone, and JEAN PASCALE, has also failed to officially register daily wage workers in accordance with legal requirements.
“There are children as young as 14 and 15 working in the factory—around 250 to 300 of them. They don’t have medical clearance and work alongside adults. They also have to do overtime and full shifts. Most of the daily workers are underage. Even after three months of work, they’re not made official employees and are kept on as day laborers,” said workers.
Workers reported facing excessive production targets and penalties, as well as a lack of legal leave entitlements.
“A single sewing line has 45 workers, and they demand 45 jackets per hour from each line. The supervisors scold and shout if the target isn’t met. The factory has even made arrangements with local ferry services to ensure workers can return home late after overtime. Those coming from far away have to leave early in the morning and return late at night,” they said.
Despite being denied their legal leave rights, workers said they are required to contribute to social welfare monthly and face deductions in daily and regular bonuses for any absence. They also alleged that some line supervisors have misappropriated performance bonuses and that pregnant workers have been mistreated.
“Last year, the employer awarded 800,000 kyats in bonuses to Line 11, but the supervisor kept it all. Worse, pregnant workers were told to sit at the back of the ferry bus. Not long ago, a pregnant worker who had to sit in the back lost her pregnancy. The factory only gave her two days’ leave. She had to quit as her condition didn’t improve,” one worker recounted.
The factory owner has reportedly increased surveillance measures, assigning more security personnel to monitor restroom usage and installing CCTV cameras on production lines, workers reported to the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM).
He MeT Company Limited is a Chinese-owned garment factory located on near the EPC office, A Lal Village, Twin Thin Thike Wun U Tun Nyo Road, Shwe Lin Ban Industrial Zone, Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Yangon. It employs over 900 workers.
