Labor policy and administration
Worker rights
ILO forecasts slow jobs recovery in ASEAN region
Working hours in the ASEAN region are projected to only partially recover in 2021 and 2022 according to new research by the International Labour Organization (ILO). COVID-19 and the ASEAN labour market: Impact and policy response highlights the heavy impact of the pandemic on ASEAN economies ...
KPL
Sex workers fighting for human rights among world’s most ‘at risk activists’
Sex worker activists are among the most at risk defenders of human rights in the world, facing multiple threats and violent attacks, an extensive investigation has found. The research, published today by human rights organisation Front Line Defenders, found that their visibility as sex workers who are advocates ...
Sarah Johnson
Migrant domestic workers 'need jabs'
Labour rights advocates have urged the authorities to vaccinate migrant domestic helpers to protect households against Covid-19. Adisorn Kerdmongkol, a member of the Migrant Network Group (MNG), told an online discussion organised by the House committee on labour on Monday that more than 100,000 migrant workers are ...
PENCHAN CHAROENSUTHIPAN
OPINION: A year since the transient worker Covid crisis: Lessons for Southeast Asia
April marked the one-year anniversary since most countries in the world went into some form of lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19. The pandemic first and foremost has exposed gaps in current labour practices towards low-skilled transient (migrant) workers across Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore, ...
FANZURA BANU AND SHEE SIEW YING
Govt compensating private sector workers laid off during pandemic
Employees who are members of their business’s social insurance scheme are eligible to receive financial assistance for temporary unemployment or loss of workdays during the COVID-19 lockdown. However, only members of business-related social insurance schemes will be able to receive compensation from the National Social Security ...
Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth
Local Workers on Lao-China Railway Say They Have Gone Without Pay For Months
Up to 30 Lao workers building a nearly completed railway project that will connect landlocked Laos with China say that they have not been paid in three to four months, because their Chinese employers left the area and went home early this year amid the ...
Reported by RFA’s Lao Service, Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin
7 million jobs at risk in post-Covid-19 Thailand
Shutdowns from the pandemic could trigger a tsunami of job losses in Thailand especially for employees who don’t have a regular salary, low-paid workers and people without a written contract. The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Industry and Banking (JSCCIB) says that as much as 7 ...
Olivier Languepin
Migrant workers’ unemployment may hinder disease control
As the Thai economy is heavily impacted by government attempts to control the COVID-19 outbreak, experts believe that the situation for migrant workers may contribute to the epidemic. Proper policies and employment support are needed to set things right. It has been 2 weeks since Rachen ...
Yiamyut Sutthichaya
Academics urge govt to boost labour rights protection in response to GSP suspension
Academics say Thailand has not been adequately protecting workers’ rights – both Thai and foreign – and though there is some improvement, existing laws and regulations still limit their rights. Their comments came after the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced last week that President Donald Trump ...
Wichit Chaitrong
Asean countries struggling with inadequate labour skills
About half the population of the Asean region live in rural areas and suffer from a shortage of quality jobs and underemployment. In addition, rural people lack training opportunities in line with the needs of the labour market and suffer from the traditional exclusion of ...
