By Myo Thein - Jun 11, 2025
Workers at Shunrong Garment Myanmar are not granted any form of leave including medical leave although they are required to make monthly contributions to social security. Workers reported to the Industrial Workers Federation of Myanmar (IWFM), the factory does not approve leave and instead marks absences as missed days, deducting both day wages and entitlements such as attendance bonuses.
"The factory deducts social security contributions from us every month but doesn’t even provide a social security card. There's no casual leave or medical leave. We still don’t get medical leave even with the card. They deduct 9,000 kyats for daily wages for missing a day, 45,000 kyats for attendance bonus, and other skill bonuses," they said.
Requesting leave the gate is difficult even in emergencies, and if workers face a 3,000 kyat deduction if they leave for just an hour.
The factory pressures employees into working overtime, and those who do not comply face demotion in skill level and discriminatory treatment, according to the workers.
“They pressure us by setting unrealistic production targets that workers can’t meet. For example, a single sewing line of 45 workers is required to produce about 60 reflective shirts per hour. The supervisors verbally abuse us when the target isn’t met. We even have to skip lunch breaks to meet those targets,” workers said.
In addition, over 50 underage workers aged 14, 15, and 16 are reportedly employed without medical clearance and are made to work under the same conditions as adult workers. The workers also claimed that the factory does not offer employment contracts even after more than six months of service.
Shunrong Garment Myanmar is located Shweli Road, Hlaingtharyar Industrial Zone 5, Yangon. The Chinese national-owned factory employs over 500 workers and is known to manufacture the PIP brand reflective shirts.