Protect Your Job from Day One with a Proper Written Contract

Ma Hnin Si worked at a garment factory near Hlaing Tharyar for eleven months. When she started, the supervisor said her salary would be 250,000 kyats per month with overtime pay. Nothing was written down. Ma Hnin Si felt grateful just to have a job and did not want to seem difficult by asking for paper. After eight months, the factory changed ownership. The new manager told her the salary had always been 200,000 kyats. Ma Hnin Si had no evidence. She showed her Kpay transaction history, but the old owner had paid partially in cash. Three coworkers faced the same cut. None of them had written contracts. When Ma Hnin Si went to the Township Labour Office in Hlaing Tharyar, the officer asked for her employment contract. She had nothing. The officer was sympathetic but said without documentation, arbitration would be extremely difficult. Ma Hnin Si lost 50,000 kyats every month for the remaining time she worked there. That is 600,000 kyats per year — gone because of one unsigned piece of paper.