What Myanmar law says
Both the Factories Act 1951 and Shops & Establishments Act require Myanmar employers to maintain detailed hours and leave records. The records must be available for inspection by the township labour office on demand and must support payslip calculations. Missing records is a standalone violation even if the underlying hours are otherwise compliant.
Records can be paper or digital. Digital systems are accepted so long as entries are timestamped, attributable, and tamper-evident. Many factories run paper attendance for shift-floor staff and digital systems for office staff; both work.
Required hours records
| Record | Captures | Retention |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance register | Daily start, break out, break in, end time per employee | ≥ 7 years |
| OT authorisation log | OT date, hours, approver, multiplier, OT pay or comp off | ≥ 7 years |
| Leave register | Annual, casual, medical, public holidays, comp off | ≥ 7 years |
| Comp-off ledger | Accrual date, hours, take-by date, taken / paid out | ≥ 7 years |
| Shift roster (factories) | Designated rest day, shift assignment per employee | ≥ 7 years |
| Women's night-work exemption (factories) | Township labour office approval letter | ≥ 7 years |
| Minor employment records | Age verification + parental consent | ≥ 7 years |
Edge cases
- Multi-site groups — each site maintains its own register; consolidated views are encouraged for management but cannot replace the site record.
- Remote / WFH staff — attendance still required; capture via clock-in/out app.
- Outsourced staff — the actual employer (manpower agency or principal) must keep the records.
- Digital migration — preserve historic paper records until 7 years lapse; do not destroy on digital go-live.
- Audit-trail integrity — backdated edits to the register are a finding; track all changes with timestamps.
Records and inspections
The township labour office can inspect on notice or by complaint and can demand each register on the spot. Inspectors typically pull a 3-month or 12-month sample, check OT-authorisation against payslips, and look for missing breaks or rest days. Buyer audits in export sectors demand the same records and often go back 12 months.
Employer takeaway
Maintain attendance, OT authorisation, leave, comp-off, and shift-roster records for every employee, retained for at least 7 years. Capture daily start, break, and end times in the attendance register. The township labour office inspects on notice or by complaint and cross-checks against payslips. Missing or backdated records is a standalone violation. Move to a digital, tamper-evident system as soon as headcount makes paper unmanageable.
Common mistakes
- Keeping only the attendance register and skipping the OT authorisation log.
- Backdating entries when an inspection is scheduled — easy to detect and worse than the original gap.
- Destroying paper records on digital go-live before the 7-year retention horizon.
- Missing the women's night-work exemption letter in factory record sets.
Related reading: are biometric systems legal, how OT is authorised, and Factories Act on working hours.
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