How do I set up HR for a 50-person company in Myanmar?

What this looks like in practice

The 50-employee threshold is a regulated cliff in Myanmar. The Occupational Safety and Health Law 2019 requires a workplace safety committee, a designated safety officer, formal risk assessment, PPE issuance log and an accident register. Around the same size, payroll volume and SSB return complexity make manual processing untenable, and the township labour office begins routine inspections.

Step-by-step setup

1. Establish the OSH safety committee with employer reps, employee reps and a designated safety officer; document terms of reference and meeting cadence (typically monthly).
2. Run a risk assessment covering all hazardous operations and post the findings; issue PPE with a signed log; schedule fire drills (typically twice/year).
3. Hire an HR manager (MMK 1,500,000–3,000,000/month in Yangon) plus retain or upgrade the junior officer.
4. Standardise payroll on cloud software with PIT, SSB, OT and leave modules; cut over from any remaining Excel processes.
5. Publish the employee handbook covering attendance, leave, OT, code of conduct, grievance, disciplinary, anti-harassment, IT and exit policies.
6. Re-issue ESDL appointment letters aligned to the handbook and current notice/severance schedule.
7. Set up monthly KPI reporting — headcount, attrition, time-to-hire, training hours, payroll cost, statutory remittance status.

Tools, templates and costs

• Cloud HRMS: MMK 400,000–900,000/month for 50 employees.
• HR manager: MMK 1,500,000–3,000,000/month.
• Junior HR officer: MMK 600,000–1,000,000/month.
• OSH consultant for committee setup and first risk assessment: MMK 800,000–2,000,000 one-off.
• Templates: handbook, OSH committee charter, risk-assessment template, PPE issue register, accident report.

Sector notes — factories

For a 50-person factory, the Factories Act 1951 overrides the S&E Act on hours and OT, and the OSH Law layers on top with the safety committee, accident register, fire drill and PPE log. Garment, food processing and assembly factories should expect labour-office inspections at least annually, plus buyer/brand audits on top.

Pitfalls to avoid

• Missing the OSH committee at 50+ — a fixed fine plus a remediation order plus repeat-offence licence-suspension risk.
• No employee handbook — disciplinary actions get challenged at the township labour office without a written policy.
• Payroll still on Excel — the IRD form and SSB return error rate compounds at 50.
• Contractor misclassification — common at 50+ to "stay under" an SSB or PIT line; ESDL and SSB violations stack.
• No accident register — required regardless of OSH committee status.

Related: factory HR compliance, mandatory HR policies, and running performance reviews.