"140 Ex-Great Duke Workers Receive Payouts From Source Left Unsaid", 01 June 2020

Nearly all of the former employees of the closed Great Duke Hotel in Phnom Penh have received owed compensation distributed by the Labor Ministry ..., but an official declined to clarify the source of the payouts.

The Labor Ministry told former Great Duke staff, some of whom had worked for the hotel for more than 20 years, that they could pick up their payment on Saturday. The compensation was awarded to them in an Arbitration Council decision in February, but their former employer had refused to pay as of late last week.

Ministry spokesman Heng Sour said ... that the government had more than $320,000 in hand to pay the employees. When asked who provided the money for the payments, Sour said he would not reveal the funding source.

... Touch Kosal, president of the Cambodia Tourism Workers Union Federation and a former hotel employee, said the compensation had been in line with the Arbitration Council’s decision in February, and he was happy to see almost all of the workers receive payment...

After 32 workers had failed to pick up their payment by the end of Saturday, Moeun Tola, executive director of labor rights group Central, urged the Labor Ministry to allow family members to pick up payments if they can provide an authorization letter from the former employee...

Oum Vanna, who worked at the Great Duke for 20 years, said he received nearly $2,600 ..., which will help him pay his debts and support his family through the economic crisis...