Deputy Prime Minister shows great interest in working environment

The Deputy Prime Minister was accompanied by a delegation of twenty people, including Vice Minister for Industry and Commerce, Somchith Inthamith, Director General of the Department for Industry and Handicraft, Buavanh Vilavong, and Thongthip Phannoulath, the acting Director for VITA Park, the industrial park where MASCOT's factory is based.

The Deputy Prime Minister was interested in hearing about the many measures that MASCOT has implemented for the benefit of the working environment. MASCOT runs only one shift and reduces the scope of overtime as much as possible in order to give employees the chance to spend as much time with their families during the day as possible. Many companies in the textile industry run two or three-team shifts with overtime at weekends, to maximise use of their machines. However, working evenings, nights and weekends naturally affects the employees' family life.

Laos has an official social security system, which the country's businesses contribute to. Unlike many other companies, all of MASCOT's employees are members of the social security system. The Deputy Prime Minister was delighted to hear this as many companies in Laos do not subscribe to the system, which means their employees are not covered by the financial security that the system provides. The government is currently running a campaign to increase participation in the system.

MASCOT Laos was also able to inform the Deputy Prime Minister that a few weeks ago, the company had the six-monthly external audit with the SA8000 standard, which addresses the working environment and employee conditions. MASCOT has been certified according to SA8000 in Laos since 2016, and is today one of only two companies in Laos to be certified with this standard.