By Yoon Sat - Jan 23, 2025
Myanmar Arysta Life Science Co., Ltd., an agriculture chemical company, terminated contracts with approximately 30 employees, including two workers with over 30 years of service, and has been delaying their severance payments, according to labor assistance groups.
The company, located at Crystal Tower on Junction Square, Kamayut Township, Yangon, has failed to provide a specific timeline for severance payments to the terminated employees, workers stated.
“None of the 28 workers have received their severance pay. Some of them have over 30 years of service. We also don’t know how much other workers are receiving,” one worker said.
On October 8, the Country Manager, Mr. Arunava Chakraborty, and General Manager Daw Myat Thiri Kyaw summoned 28 employees to inform them that the company would cease operations and shut down on December 31. Workers were issued notices on the same day, sources said.
The formal termination notices were distributed on the morning of October 10, and partial severance payments were transferred through the bank on December 27, according to workers. On January 9, the Country Manager and General Manager called the workers to sign confirmation receipts for the severance payments.
“We asked when the remaining pension benefits and gratuities based on years of service under the company’s rules and mutual agreement would be paid. They replied that payments could only be made after receiving outstanding payments from the company’s sales representatives,” one worker explained.
The company told the 28 terminated employees that their remaining severance benefits and gratuities would only be paid once the sales representatives cleared their outstanding debts. This was a breach of the employment contract, labor rights advocates noted.
“The employees worked for nearly three decades, securing markets and generating over $60 million in profits for the company during that time. However, the employer’s response in this situation constitutes a serious violation of workers’ rights,” said an advocate assisting the workers.
The termination process, which disregarded the company’s rules and breached the mutual agreement, represents a clear violation of workers’ entitlements, labor advocates added.
