By way of reminder, please be informed that the window to apply for the 2024 foreign employee quota will close on Thursday, 30 November 2023.

Following our earlier reminder, please note that enterprises employing or intending to employ foreign employees in 2024 are required to apply for a foreign employee quota from the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (“MLVT”). Under the quota system, a maximum of 10% of an employer’s total local workforce may be foreign nationals (based on a calculation of foreign employees/local employees), comprised of: office employees (3%); skilled labour employees (6%); and unskilled labour employees (1%).

In August 2020, the MLVT issued Prakas 277/20 concerning Special Conditions on the Employment of Foreign Nationals (“Prakas 277/20”) to permit the hiring foreign nationals in excess of the above foreign employee quota cap under special conditions and subject to the MLVT approval.

Based on Prakas 277/20, enterprises governed by Article 1 of the Labour Law (including all commercial enterprises, whether public, semi-public or private, religious or non-religious, educational and charitable organizations, professional offices, and associations or groups of any nature whatsoever), which intend to hire employees but cannot find suitably qualified Cambodian nationals, may file a request to hire foreign nationals in excess of 10% of the total number of Cambodian employees.

If your organization employs or intends to employ any foreign nationals, we recommend that the 2024 foreign employee quota application be prepared as soon as practicable and, in any event, before 30 November 2023, in order to avoid potential fines by the MLVT and, where applicable, leave sufficient time to seek approval for any increase in the quota. Please refer to this alert on Annual Labour Compliance for more details about the applicable penalties.

If you require our assistance with such application, please do not hesitate to contact labor.kh@dfdl.com.

The information provided here is for information purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice. Legal advice should be obtained from qualified legal counsel for all specific situations.