By Min Ni Kyaw - Feb 07, 2025
Workers from the Myanmar QI Yuan Garment (Factory 2), Hlaing Thar Yar Industrial Zone report that they are being forced to work excessive overtime. According to the workers, they were required to work 29 hours of nighttime overtime in the past month (approximately six days).
"A normal day requires two hours of overtime. Midnight overtime is five hours, from 7 PM to midnight. Now, families and parents are worried due to security concerns. Female workers are even more concerned. We don’t want to work overtime. The supervisors say, 'Then don’t come to work the next day,' even if we tell them that our families are not comfortable with it " said a female worker.
Although the law allows up to 80 hours of overtime per month, it prohibits forcing workers to work overtime without their consent.
The factory’s regular working hours are from 8 AM to 4:30 PM, but workers say they are required to work an additional two hours of overtime every day.
However, workers also report that from lunchtime until the end of overtime at 6:30 PM, they are not given any break time and must continue working without rest.
"Workers feel helpless and cry when they threaten the jobs. They don’t verbally abuse us anymore, but in some production lines and departments, we have to work more than 80 hours. On Saturdays, we are supposed to finish at 4:30 PM, but some departments and production lines have to continue working. Workers in departments like packing, which handles the final processing, are becoming thinner and weaker," they said.
On December 31, workers had to work until nighttime, and on Saturday, January 1, they were required to work until 8 PM.
Workers also reported that they had to work overtime on January 4 and 6 and that factory officials stated that continuous overtime work would be required until the Thingyan festival period.
"The supervisors keep saying that overtime will continue. The factory management frequently holds meetings, telling us not to complain or report anything and not to refuse overtime. Now, it has become a situation where we have no choice but to work. Someone else has to work in my place if I refuse, and they ask whether I will take responsibility for it if the new one make a mistake," workers said.
Despite working overtime, workers report that they are not given any type of leave.
After reports surfaced in late October 2024 about male workers facing discrimination at Myanmar QI Yuan Garment factory, the township labor office conducted an inspection, according to the workers.
"Discrimination and verbal abuse stopped after the inspection. Child laborers were also removed. We saw that helpers who had reached the legal working age were rehired. However, old fans were reinstalled, but they don’t work properly, so we are still suffering from the heat. Soap in the toilets is also inconsistent—sometimes provided, sometimes not," said a female worker.
Workers report that Myanmar QI Yuan Garment Co., Ltd. is owned by a Chinese national and operates with about 600 workers at its factory, located on Than Chat Wun U Nyunt Street, Industrial Zone 1, East Hlaing Thar Yar Township, Yangon.
They also stated that the factory has a WCC (Workplace Coordination Committee) formed by the factory management and is engaged in manufacturing cut-make-pack (CMP) garments.
