Source: https://duensingkippen.com/thailandbusinesslawblog/?author=1&paged=2
Timestamp: 2020-05-30 17:08:59
Document Index: 635226682

Matched Legal Cases: ['ART 10', 'ART 8', 'ART 7', 'ART 6', 'ART 3', 'ART 4']

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LABOR LAW IN THAILAND: PART 10 – The Employees Compensation Act
The Employees Compensation Act (the “Act”) requires an employer with one employee or more to register employees (with the exception of certain categories of employees such as government officials and teachers at private schools) with the Employees Compensation Fund (the “Fund”) at the Social Security Office. The purpose of the Fund is to compensate employees — or their estate — for lost wages in the event of the employee’s employment-related injury, illness, or death, as well as for such an employee’s, medical treatment and rehabilitation, or funeral costs.
Employers must contribute to the Fund by the end of January of every year at rates, which depend on the type of employer’s business and nature of the employee’s work. The contribution rates range from 0.2% to 1% of the employee’s total annual pay. However, where an employee’s salary exceeds Thai Baht 240,000 yearly, the base salary of that employee — for purposes of the requisite Fund contribution calculation — will be capped at Thai Baht 240,000. If an employer fails to make any required contribution to the Fund, that employer will be required to pay the outstanding contribution amount — as well as an additional penalty amount equal 3% of the unpaid contribution per month of the deficiency.
An employee’s eligibility for payment of compensation benefits is determined by the criteria detailed under the Act and if eligible, paid to such an employee at rates prescribed by the Act, which depend largely on the seriousness of the case. Most commonly, the compensation will be paid monthly at the rate of 60% of the employee’s monthly wages for a specific duration to an employee who is: unable to work continuously for more than three days; has lost an organ; becomes disabled such that they cannot preform their work; or who dies.
Where medical treatment is required as a result of a covered employee’s work, then such an employee’s “actual and necessary” curative expenses will be paid for by Fund up to Thai Baht 45,000 for a “normal case” and up to Thai Baht 65,000 for a “serious injury”. Furthermore, and if applicable, an employee may also be eligible to receive compensation for curative rehabilitation expenses, but not exceeding Thai Baht 20,000.
It should be noted, however, that certain exceptions to an employer’s obligations and an employee’s eligibility to compensation under the Act apply where an employee is injured due to the employee’s fault.
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This entry was posted in Uncategorized on August 15, 2014 by duensingkippen.
LABOR LAW IN THAILAND: PART 8 – The Labor Protection Act: employees committee
In our last article, we described the “Work Rules” which an employer is required to provide and pointed out that this requirement is triggered when the employer’s total number of employees reaches ten or more. But that is not the only legal obligation triggered by the size of an employer’s work force. Once an employer employs fifty or more employees, an “Employees Committee” must be established.
Employees Committee members are entitled to hold their position for a term of three years. The minimum required number of members of the Employees Committee depends on the total number of the employees as follows:
Number of the Employees Employee Committee Members
200 – 400 9
400 – 800 11
800 – 1,500 13
1,500 – 2,500 15
more than 2,500 17 – 21
Employers must arrange for a meeting with the Employees Committee at least once every three months, or when more than half of the total of all Employees Committee so request, or whenever otherwise “appropriately requested,” in order to:
(a) provide welfare for an employee(s);
(b) hold discussions regarding any Work Rule(s);
(c) consider a complaint(s) of an employee(s); or
(d) compromise a dispute(s).
Significantly, if any action of the employer is perceived to be to be unfair to an employee(s), the Employees Committee has the right to file a claim the Labor Court on behalf of the employee(s).
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on August 3, 2014 by duensingkippen.
LABOR LAW IN THAILAND: PART 7 – The Labor Protection Act: work rules
Once an employer employs ten or more employees, that employer must provide “Work Rules”. These Work Rules must be provided in the Thai language and they and must be announced and in force within fifteen days of the employer’s labor force reaching ten or more employees. And the employer must submit the Work Rules — as well as any later amendment to the Works Rules — to the Department of Labor Protection and Welfare within seven days of the Work Rules coming into force.
The employer’s Work Rules may contain any legally permissible conditions of employment. However, at a minimum, the Work Rules must include details of the following particulars:
regular working hours and breaks;
work holidays and the rules for taking holidays;
terms and procedure for employee discipline and punishment for employment misconduct by the employee;
the procedure for the submission and consideration and settlement of complaints regarding employment conditions or issues by an employee to the employer;
protections afforded to any such complaining employee; and
the procedure and terms for termination of employment, severance pay, and special severance pay, if any.
The employer must distribute the Work Rules to all employees and post them in a conspicuous position at the work place. In the event that the employer less than ten employees at some later time, the Work Rules must remain in effect.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on August 1, 2014 by duensingkippen.
LABOR LAW IN THAILAND: PART 6 – The Labor Protection Act: warnings prior to termination
In our last article we discussed employee termination and noted that the LPA distinguishes between termination “for cause” and termination “without cause” of an employee contracted to work for an indefinite period of time. Where such an employee has work for at least two months and one and is then terminated without cause, the employer will be liable to pay that employ severance compensation to the employee in an amount equal between thirty and three hundred days of that employee’s most recent wages.
We also quoted the what the LPA considers to be the six qualifying “for cause” reasons for which an employer may terminate an employee, among them being where an employee: “violates the lawful and just work rules or regulations or orders of the employer, after receiving written warning of the employer . . . such written warning is valid for only one year.”
But what qualifies as such “written notice”? For instance, does the employee need to acknowledge it, or even sign it? The LPA does not detail the requirement beyond its need to be in writing. However, the Thai Supreme Court has helped to clarify this question by interpreting the following to satisfy this written notice requirement:
a. the employee signing the written warning;
b. the employer reading the written warning to the employee and a third party witness signs the written warning;
c. posting the warning in a conspicuous place where everyone can see it at the place of employment; and
d. sending the written warning to the employee by registered to post to the employee’s address.
But it should be emphasized again that it is not possible for to “go back in time” with a written warning. In other words, it is not possible for the employer to become aware of an employee’s misconduct and only later issue a written warning to the employee. When an employer has done that, the Thai Supreme Court has interpreted the employer’s failure to issue the warning earlier as the employer having consented to the conduct. Therefore, it is an employer must issue any such warning as soon as the offending conduct occurs, ideally immediately after such conduct occurs; otherwise repetition of such conduct, even within the next one year, will not be grounds for termination “for cause”.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on July 27, 2014 by duensingkippen.
LABOR LAW IN THAILAND: PART 3 – The Labor Protection Act: pay
Wages must be paid only in money and must not be at less than the minimum wage rate. With regard to pay, employees can be divided into two types as follows:
(1) “salaried employees” who already receive wages on holidays (weekly holiday, official holiday and annual leave) when they do not actually work on such holidays, e.g. employees who receive a monthly salary. These employees must be and are already (by being on salary) paid “holiday wages” at a rate of not less than one time of their average hourly wage rate on a normal work day; and
(2) “non-salaried employees” who are not entitled to receive wages on holidays if they do not work on such a holiday, e.g. employees whose wages are calculated on a daily or hourly basis. These employees, must be paid “holiday wages” if they work on a holiday at a rate of not less than two times their normal non-holiday wage.
When any employee works more than eight hours in a day, such an employee must be paid for overtime work beyond this at a rate of not less than one and half times their normal hourly wage rate average. On holidays employees must be paid overtime wages must at a rate of not less than three times their normal hourly wage rate average.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on July 14, 2014 by duensingkippen.
LABOR LAW IN THAILAND: PART 4 – The Labor Protection Act: leave
Under the LPA an employee must be given at least one day of leave per week. However, in the event that the business that the employee is working for is a hotel, the employer and the employee may agree that the employee may accumulate and postpone his weekly leave days within a period of four consecutive weeks to be taken at any time later.
In addition to such personal annual leave, an employee must be given leave on not be less than thirteen national holidays per year. However, in the event that the business that the employee is working for is a hotel, entertainment establishment, beverage or food shop, or similar, the employer and the employee may agree that the employee will take leave on an alternative day(s) to substitute for the official holiday(s)but the higher requisite “holiday wages” applicable on official holidays must be paid to the employee for his work on any such substitution work day(s).
But, in any event, an employer must obtain an employee’s consent for an employee to work overtime or to work on a holiday. An exception applies in the event that the employee is working for a hotel, entertainment venue food store, club, or other similar business, in which case an employer may require an employee to work on a holiday without the employee’s prior consent.
A pregnant employee is entitled to a maternity leave of up to ninety days for each pregnancy.
Finally, the LPA also provides many other categories of leave for the employee: for example, leave for: “necessary business”; sterilization; military training and service, and others.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on July 11, 2014 by duensingkippen.
Leasing Property in Thailand? – Danish Chamber of Commerce of Thailand asks; Olaf Duensing answers
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on July 9, 2014 by duensingkippen.