ISSN 1815-9389

#83
2014

May 2014

Labour Laws in Myanmar

Introduction
Since 2011, Myanmar has been one of the main countries to draw international atten-
tion. Before that year, international news coverage on the country was mostly related to
oppression and political turmoil caused by military dictatorship. However, after 2011, the
reasons were quite different. Several political and legal reforms brought by the civilian-led
government, although backed by the military group, have made a drastic shift of interna-
tional climate towards the country. Still, there is cautious scepticism on the real intention of
these reforms, which included releasing Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, and a mas-
sive number of political prisoners from prison, relaxing censorship and legalizing trade un-
ions. All these changes were welcomed by international society and rewarded by cancela-
tion of all actions implemented by mostly US and European countries. These reforms
turned the country from a problematic country under military dictatorship to an attractive
one for investment with natural resources and cheap labours. The reforms also brought
about new dynamics in society: trade union legalization has had a big impact on workplace
and led to mushrooming labour unions.
Together with government efforts to lure foreign investment through various measures
including favourable legislation for foreign capital, foreign direct investment has increased
dramatically in a short period. In order to secure an advantageous political position in the
2015 election against a prominent political rival, Aung San Suu Kyi, President Thein Sein
has pushed liberal economic policies such as the Foreign Investment Law enacted in 2012
in the hope of getting positive outcomes such as increasing jobs and rapid economic
growth in a short time.
The increasing number of companies boosted by foreign investment together with legal-
ization of trade unions has brought the promulgation of labour organisations. More than
670 labour organisations have been registered in the 2 years since the implementation of
the law (Wilson, 2013).

Historical Background
The legal system of Myanmar is rooted in common law as other previous British coloni-
al countries. However, the country is distinctive with common law tradition even before Brit-
ish colonization in 1884. The pre-colonial legal system was quite similar with that of UK:
authorities functioning as legal courts; full uniformed legal professions titled shene for plain-
tiff and defendant with different colour of hats respectively; legal text called dhammasat and
Yazathat based on Buddhism, which was dated back to twelve century; and training system
for legal profession (Huxley, 2001). British colonial administration replaced all the existing
legal system with exception regulating marriage, religion and succession [1] (Huxley, 1998).
Traditional religious laws were applied to these areas according to the religions of parties,
that is, Buddhist rules for Buddhists and Islamic rules for Muslims, etc.
Independence of the country in 1948 did not bring a big change at least in legal system
which was in pursuit of minimum amount of decolonization (Huxley, 1998). However, the
military coup in 1962 led by Ne Win changed all the landscapes of the state including those
of courts. Under the name of building socialism along the Burmese way, the military junta
brought a radical reform in legal system: the military government restructured legal system
by making the judiciary a part of the executive and legislature of the one party state and by
introducing “a system of people’s justice”. The governmental manual for the courts directed
judges on where to (and where not to) find the law and stated that judges should not refer
to any decisions from other countries nor earlier decisions from Burma’s courts. And the
courts were operated by panels of three party members (normally laymen) with advice of ex
-judges which was not necessary to be taken (Southalan, 2006). In 1988 along with the
country’s re-orientation to market economy after economic debacle for a decade, the legal
system returned to the previous one. Academics and legal practitioners in Myanmar have
characterized their present legal system of Myanmar as a combination of common law [2]
and civil law, which uses “the principles of common laws and implants them into the vehicle
of codified laws and statues”. The sources are customary laws from ancient times, statues,
directives of ministries and departmental notifications or instructions (Nyo Nyo Thinn, 2006:
388).

Labour Laws
As many other laws introduced by the British colonial administration, most of the labour
laws from colonial period have survived and been effective until recently. For instance, the
Workers’ Compensation Act of 1923 was amended in 2005: Trade Disputes Act of 1929
along with the Trade Union Act of 1926 was reformed in 2012: and Payment of Wages Act
of 1936 is still in effect. After independence in 1948, the country started to equip more la-
bour laws such as Minimum Wage Act in 1949, Employment and Act in 1950, Factories Act
in 1951, Leaves and Holiday Act in 1951, Shops and Establishments Act in 1951, and So-
cial Security Act in 1954, etc., most of which are still in effect or in the process of refor-
mation now.
While one of the main reasons of the legal stationary was political and economic stag-
nation since 1960s, the military government kept the laws as long as they served its bene-
fits or issued orders and decrees to reinforce control over the country. The 1926 Trade Un-
ion Act gave a good example. The Act set an excessively high threshold required to estab-
lish a legally recognized trade union which was required to have 50 per cent of workers as
members. The 1964 Law Defining the Fundamental Rights and Responsibilities of the Peo-
ple’s Workers stating the rights of workers has been criticized by ILO for imposing a single
union system. Various orders and decrees were used to suppress people’s mobilization.
Among these orders and decrees were the 1988 Order 2/88 on the Organisation for Build-
ing Law and Order in the State banning gathering more than 5 persons, and the 1988 Or-
der 6/88 known as the Law on the Formation of Associations and Organisations requiring
permission for any forms of organisations even including social clubs (International Trade
Union Confederation, 2009). The Trade Union Act was one of the first laws to be repealed
after the political reform in 2011 together with the Trade Disputes Act, which were replaced
respectively by the Labour Organisation Law in 2011 and the Settlement of Labour Dispute
Law in 2012. The 2008 Constitution provided legal base for these changes: Section 24
2
states that the union [of Myanmar] shall enact necessary laws to protect the right of work-
ers: Section 354 stipulates that every citizen shall be at liberty in exercise of the following
rights….to form associations and organisations [3] (Constitution of the Republic of the Un-
ion of Myanmar, 2008). In line with its open-up, the government has been working to repeal
or amend the old labour laws covering working conditions and social security (Than Win,
2012).
Leaves, Hours, and Wages
The Leave and Holidays Act 1951 has been used as the basic framework for
leaves with minor amendment in 2006. Workers are granted 14 public holidays (listed by
the law) with full payment; full-paid 10 consecutive days of annual leave after 12 months of
work with 20 working days in each month; 6 days of causal leaves each year with full pay-
ment which shall be used maximum for 3 days at one time; and 30 days of sick leave on
medical certificate with full salary after 6-month service or without pay for workers em-
ployed for less than 6 months.
Maternity leave is provided to women workers covered by the Social Security Act
1954 for six weeks before and after the expected date of childbirth on the condition of 26
weeks of contribution before the benefit. A recent proposed draft of the new Social Security
Act includes changes in maternity leaves such as: requirement of a minimum of one-year
service and six-month contribution to the social insurance: 14 weeks of maternity leave and
another four weeks of child care in the case of the twin delivery: 8-week adoption leave for
adopting a child under one year old: and, 15-day parental leave to care for an infant deliv-
ered by an insured partner.
Standard working hours, regulated by the Factories Act 1951, are 8 hours per day
and 44 hours per week, though with some variations by other laws such as 35 hours for
government employees, 40 hours for underground mining workers and 48 hours for shops
and service workers. 30-minute break should be given after 5 consecutive hours, which is
counted as a part of working hours. Overtime payment is two times the normal wage.
A new minimum wage law, passed in March 2013, was replaced the 1949 Mini-
mum Wage Act. The new law provides a framework for minimum wage determination: the
presidential office establishing a tripartite minimum wage committee shall decide minimum
wage with industrial variation based on a survey on living costs of workers possibly every
two years. The Minimum Wage Law stipulates equal payment such as “employees, regard-
less of gender, have the right to be treated and compensated equally (article 14 (h))”,
(Marla Bu et al., 2013) which is the first legalization in relation to discrimination in labour
laws. The new minimum wage is not announced yet by November 2013, though the Minis-
try of Labour in 2012 set up as temporal minimum wage 56,000 kyat (US$65) per month
after serious disputes in garment factories. The 1936 Payment of Wages Act stipulates the
method of payment stating that the payment should be made in cash on a regular payday,
and allows legal action against delayed payment or un-agreeable deduction.
Dismissal and Severance Payment
Although there is no legal regulation on termination and severance payment, the cus-
tom recommended and practiced by labour authorities is a package of one month notice
and severance payment according to years of service: one month wage for more-than-3-
month and less than one year service 2-month salary for 1~3 years of service: and 4-month
payment for more than 3 years of service. However, it is not necessary to give a prior no-
tice or severance in the cases of employee’s voluntary resignation or misconducts.
Collective Bargaining and Union
The 2011 Labour Organisation Law regulates collective industrial relations in-
cluding trade unions, employers’ associations, collective actions and lockouts. The law us-

3
es industry/occupation and geographic categories such as: basic labour organisations at
company level in same trade or activities; township labour organisations and regional or
state labour organisations at township and regional level in same trade or activities; labour
federation above in same trade or activities; and Myanmar labour confederation at national
level. Labour organisations of all the levels should be legally registered with requirements
such as: minimum 30 workers or 10% of workers in the case of smaller than 30-employee
workplaces for basic labour organisation: minimum 10% of lower level organisations for
township/ state and regional labour organisations and federations; and minimum 20% of all
the federations for confederation. The law also allows for employers to organise in parallel
structures.
Although the law states the rights of collective bargaining of the labour organisations, it
does not mention the responsibility of employers on this matter. The law allows strikes for
labour organisations but requires permission of labour federation in advance - 14 days for
public utility service industry and 3 days for others. The law also allows employers’ lockout
but with permission of the relevant conciliation body at least 14 days in advance. However,
both lockout and strike will be illegal in the essential service sectors such as water, electric-
ity, health and telecommunication and even a non-essential service may become an essen-
tial service (article 41 (a)) depending on the situation. In addition, it bans strikes or lock-
outs during the dispute settlement process, and prohibits dismissal of the members due to
collective actions.
Dispute Resolution System
The Settlement of Labour Dispute Law was promulgated in 2012 shortly after the La-
bour Organisation Law, which repealed the 1926 Trade Dispute Act. The individual dispute
may start at a workplace coordinating committee, go to the township conciliation body and
end at the competent courts if conciliation is not successful. Collective dispute cases pass
through arbitration processes in addition to negotiation and conciliation such as: the work-
place coordinating committee (negotiation): the township conciliation body (conciliation):
the regional/state arbitration body, the arbitration council, and the tribunal (arbitration).
For this end, the law requires formation of all these mechanism to deal with industrial
disputes. The workplace coordinating committee composed of 4 members in equal num-
bers representing an employer and a union (or workers if no union) should be established
in a workplace with more than 30 employees. It shall deal with negotiating and concluding
collective agreement and grievances at workplaces. Township Conciliation Body is formed
by regional/state authorities and dealing with conciliation. If the unsettled case is a case of
collective dispute, the case is handed over to the Regional/State Arbitration Body, which
makes a decision on the case. With the decision, the parties in the non-essential service
have two choices: to go for strikes by workers or lock-out for employers: or to appeal to the
Arbitrary Council for a Tribunal, which are set up and administrated by the central govern-
ment. Please refer to the table above for the detail of each body.
However, the decision in these processes is not legally binding and the dis-satisfied
party would begin a litigation process by bringing the case to the Supreme Court after com-
pleting the process (Than Win, 2012).

Conclusion
Myanmar has experienced the rapid changes including legislations. In relation to the
legal changes, there are several serious criticisms. First one is the process of promulgation.
The laws are introduced without social consensus or open discussion. The laws have been
drafted by the government and passed by the parliament secretly. Public society cannot
access the contents of the laws until the government officially releases them. People who

4
 Table. Industrial Dispute Settlement Mechanism

Working
Composition Issues Roles
duration
workplace 4 members individual / - settling grievances 5 days for
coordinat- - 2 from employer collective dis- - negotiating/concluding grievance
ing com- - 2 from union or pute collective agreement
mittee elected by workers
Township 11 members individual / - determining the types 3 days
Concilia- - 3 from government collective dis- of disputes (individual/
tion Body - 3 from employers pute collective)
- 3 from unions - conciliating the issues
- 2 from public inter- - concluding agreement
ests if the case settled
Regional/ 11 members collective dis- - making a decision on 7 days
State - 3 from government pute the case
Arbitration - 3 from employers
Body - 3 from unions
- 2 from public inter-
ests
Arbitration 15 members (experts) - hearing by 3 members
Council - 5 from government on the issues
- 5 from employers - forming a tribunal
Tribunal - 5 from unions - having a trial - 7 days
- making a decision (essential
service sec-
tors)
- 14 days for
non-
essential
service sec-
tor

may be influenced by the changes do not have a chance to be involved to the process.
Even the parliament members do not have enough time to review the drafts, which makes
them rubber stampers for the new laws.
This weak formation process leads to creating another problem: the new law is promul-
gated without correcting controversies or weaknesses, which may not reflect actual situa-
tions and even hamper the objectives of laws. The Labour Organisation Law provides a
good example: making it a difficult process to form the industrial level resulting in factory-
level small unions such as requiring permission for strikes, which forces workers to organ-
ise “demonstrations” rather than legally protected strikes. In these cases, the law may not
have effect enough to secure the workers’ rights to organise and to improve their working
conditions collectively.
The last but most important issue is implementation of the laws. Let alone violation of
labour rights at the workplaces, employers frequently disregard of the reinstatement orders
from arbitration bodies and council, which do not have effective penalties (Pathak, 2013).
Even with these problems, workers in Myanmar have been actively utilizing the new
laws and built labour movements. It is reported that there are more than 670 labour organi-
sations with 200,000 workers registered under the law in less than two-year legalization of
trade unions (Wilson, 2013). They have raised their voices and demanded their shares as
workers and as members of society, which were suppressed under the 50-year dictator-
ship. The experiences of Myanmar may be a case to show how laws can stimulate and fa-

5
cilitate social changes when it is combined with active agents.

Endnotes
[1] Huxley alleged that the reason to destroy this seemingly similar common law system rather than
to preserve it might be the fear of colonialists on superiority of the colonized (Huxley, 1998: 10).

[2] There are some debates whether Burma/Myanmar should be regarded as a common law country
due to unlawful situation created by military regime. Southalan (2006) points out the lack of judicial
independence as a reason to hamper the proper operation of the common law, and Cheeseman
(2009) argues based on a court case of a political issue that Myanmar is a country of “the un-rule of
law not thin rule of law”.

[3] However, this section puts a limitation to exercise the rights such as “if not contrary to the laws,
enacted for Union security, prevalence of law and order, community peace and tranquility or public
order and morality” (supra)

References
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 ble at: http://column.global-labour-university.org/2013/09/the-new-union-movement-in-
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Laws
Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar 2008.
The Labour Organization Law. 2011.
The Law Amending the Leave and Holidays Act, 1951. 2006.
The Law Defining the Fundamental Rights and Responsibilities of the People’s Workers.
1964.
The Law Revoking the 1964 Law Defining the Fundamental Rights and Responsibilities of
the People's Workers. 2011.
The Leave and Holidays Act. 1951.
The Minimum Wage Act. 1949.
The Payment of Wage Act. 1936.
State LOCR LAW No. 2/88. 1988.
State LOCR LAW No. 6/88. 1988.
The Settlement of Labour Dispute Law. 2012.
Social Security Act. 1954
Social Security Law, 2012

*Jinyoung Park is a South Korean labour activist and researcher. She has worked on
women workers issues at both local and regional labour organisations. She conducted re-
search on various issues faced by women locally and regionally, coordinated international
activities such as the joint campaign on minimum wages across Asia and exchange pro-
grams of women workers from different countries, and organised training programs for em-
powerment of women.

Asian Labour Update (ALU) is published electronically Editorial Team