According to the labor law, factories working hours is 8 hours a day. Although overtime is set at 20 hours per week, most factory labours have about 2 hours of overtime during their normal working hours, and the minimum working day is 10 hours.
According to the labours, they are currently working from 12 to 16 hours a day due to the reasons of getting much orders in the garment industry.
Sometimes, they have to go to work all day and night, go back home in the morning, take a shower, and go back to work.
"All night means working until 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock, or all lin (all light) means you have to go down all night until dawn. There is no time limit," said a labour.
According to the labours, if their health is affected due to such long working hours and no rest time, they will not receive health benefits and welfare benefits, and they will even lose more benefits.
"Recently, labours have been working more hours unfairly. If they want to take day off because of sick, tired and sleep irregularly, they can't. The employers don't allow it. They said they can’t allow without reporting in advance or without having a prescription. Even so, they are cut off. Working 20 hours a day can harm in long term. There are quite a lot of labour who are fired because they don't work overtime," said the laboural supporter.
"Factory, in the guidelines on the procedures to be followed” expressed by the Junta’s Ministry of Labour in last year June stated the working overtime in workshops, specifying that any labour may not work more than 44 hours per week without overtime, and overtime is 3 hours a day and 15 hours for Monday to Friday. 5 hours for Saturday. Only 20 hours per week are set to work.
Currently, most of the factories are aggressively recruiting overtime, and if the labours want to take leave due to ill health, they required approval of the Social Security Office. The labours are only allowed to go to the hospital for major surgery, and are not easy to get allowed a leave for a sick just because of the restrictions such as social security office's recommendations.
“Workers are not allowed for medical leave after they are working all night and all light. Workers who don’t work overtime are fired. Not directly but fined a problem to be fired anyway. There is no WCC in the factory. We reported managers and supers but nothing changed. Even reporting the labour offices prevent the situation only for a day,” said a labour from Shwe Pyi Thar Ford Glory garment factory.
The labours said that the situation of losing their health benefits due to such unfair overtime is a violation of their rights, but they have to keep quiet because of fearing that they will be fired. The labours say that the overtime labours in these factories are working without the right to refuse, and despite the long hours and excessive work, it is only a meager salary due to high good prices.
In addition, a labour said that the female labours at the factory have to pay monthly fee for maternity benefits but some don’t get the benefits and some are not paid until about a year of the child’s age, a worker said.
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