Does the Labor Law of Cambodia limit time frame or period during which employer must exercise his or her right to take disciplinary measure against a worker who commits misconduct? This article will answer to this question.
In practice, most of the enterprises’ internal regulations have defined worker’s misconducts and disciplinary actions depending on how serious the misconducts are. Disciplinary actions include but are not limited to verbal warning, written warning, suspension of employment contract without wages and dismissal.
Employer who wishes to exercise his or her right to take disciplinary actions must know these fundamental provisions which are stipulated in the Labor Law. They are the rule of the extinction of the employer’s right to disciplinary action in Article 26, rule of the proportionality between misconduct and disciplinary sanction in Article 27, and the rule of prohibition of double punishment on the same misconduct in Article 28 of the Labor Law. In this text, only one of the rules is relevant because it answers to the question mentioned above.
Pursuant to Article 26 of the Labor Law, employer may lose the right to take disciplinary actions against a worker who commit misconduct if the employer fails to take action within the period.
Article 26 of the Labor Law reads:
An employer cannot impose disciplinary action against a worker for any misconduct of which the employer or one of his representatives has been aware for over fifteen days.
The employer shall be considered to renounce his right to dismiss a worker for serious misconduct if this action is not taken within a period of seven days from the date on which he has learned about the serious misconduct in question.
In conclusion, in Cambodia, there is a time limit for employer to take disciplinary actions, for example 15 for any misconduct and 7 days for serious misconduct. Is there similar rule in other countries?