Six former employees of a tourist agency have filed a complaint with the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, saying their former employer owes them each about $4,100 in back wages, one ex-employee said.
They also say they were fired for no reason and were not warned a month in advance of their dismissal, which is required in their contracts.
The former employees, fired from Apex Cambodia Travel Service Co, Ltd on Feb 27, 2001, are owed the back fees because of a 1997 agreement they signed with the Apex manager, said Nunn Soklamy, a former driver for Apex.
He said the agreement, which was signed during the factional fighting of 1997, allowed Apex to keep 50 percent of their salary until the country experienced enough political stability for the tourism industry to improve.
In exchange, the employees would receive three months severance pay if fired and a month warning before they were dismissed. Nunn Soklamy said none of the fired employees have received any of the money owed to them.
“We need the management of Apex to follow its contract,” Nunn Soklamy said. “We are having a hard time finding a job right now.”
Apex manager Sathol Miyura first said he never signed an agreement giving Apex 50 percent of his former employees’ salary in 1997. However, he eventually admitted that he did sign the agreement in 1997.
“I will not pay them any more money,” he said, adding that he compensated each of the fired employees with $1,200. “The company has already paid them too much.”
According Nunn Soklamy, the $1,200 they received was merely the severance pay they were entitled to and was not part of the $4,100 they are owed because of their contract.
In Khemera, a labor dispute inspection officer for the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, said his office has received the letter and is reviewing the case.
