"Abusive rent hikes offset minimum wage gains", 19 December 2019

The president of the Collective Union of Movement of Workers has collected workers’ complaints regarding abusive rent hikes and will send a report to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

CUMW’s Pav Sina ... said he asked workers and unions across the Kingdom to report cases where rent is increased by more than $5.

“We already have complaints from some workers who say their landlord will increase the rent next year. This is happening as the new minimum wage increases to $190 in 2020,” Mr Sina said.

He lamented that rent and utility costs are increasing considerably while the minimum wage will only increase marginally.

Mr Sina said in 2020 the minimum wage will be bumped up by just $8, which, in the case of many workers, will be completely offset by hikes in rent and utility costs.

... Labour Ministry spokesman Heng Sour ... told Khmer Times that the ministry will ask Phnom Penh City Hall and district authorities to inspect cases where landlords are unfairly raising the rent.

He said the law stipulates that landlords cannot increase rent drastically.

“Authorities will go to houses where tenants have complained to assess the situation,” Mr Sour said.

Him Sokroeun, a worker in a garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district, ... said that her landlord has not announced a rent hike yet.

She says she is paying $35 per month in rent, a price that she can barely afford...