How do I handle pay during a Yangon power-outage period?

What this looks like in practice

Yangon and other major Myanmar cities have experienced sustained load-shedding and power-outage periods, sometimes for half-days or full days at a time. During an outage that prevents normal operations, the employer-vs-employee wage burden depends on contract type. Monthly-salary employees continue to be paid; daily-wage workers who don't work are not paid unless the contract says otherwise. Force majeure does not by itself authorise wage cuts.

Step-by-step setup

1. Confirm contract type — monthly salaried, daily wage, fixed-term — for every affected employee.
2. Maintain attendance records — digital or manual log of who reported, who couldn't work, who worked from home.
3. Pay monthly salaried staff in full for the affected period; outage is employer's commercial risk.
4. Daily-wage workers: pay only for days actually worked unless contract or policy provides otherwise; document.
5. If extended outage forces partial closure: consult employees and the township labour office before any lay-off or reduced-pay arrangement.
6. Run remote-work where feasible; document remote attendance separately.
7. Continue SSB and PIT remittance by the 15th regardless — outage doesn't change filing deadlines.

Tools, templates and costs

• Backup power: generator MMK 800,000–3,000,000 one-off + diesel cost; UPS for office MMK 200,000–800,000.
• Cloud HRMS with mobile attendance for remote/work-from-home days: existing tier.
• Templates: outage-day attendance log, work-from-home authorisation, township labour office consultation request, lay-off notice.

Lay-off vs continued employment

If outages are prolonged enough that operations are suspended for weeks, employers sometimes consider lay-off (suspension) or reduced-pay arrangements. Both require employee consultation and typically township-labour-office notice. The Conciliation Body has historically not accepted unilateral salary reduction as force majeure — proceed only with documented agreement or under township-office mediation.

Pitfalls to avoid

• Cutting monthly salaries during a single-day outage — Payment of Wages Law violation grounds.
• No attendance records for outage days — disputes downstream.
• Skipping SSB or PIT remittance because "ops were suspended" — deadlines unchanged.
• Unilateral lay-off announcement — consultation and township-office notice required.
• Treating WFH days as no-work — pay continues if work was performed.

Related: remote-first onboarding, running payroll, and HR during Thingyan.