This article give you Thailand employment law basic, the employment relationship between employers and employees. In Thailand, certain laws have been enacted regulating the areas of age, sex, discrimination race relations, disability, health and safety and employees rights in general. Also, labor unions according to labor.
Relevant law
Department of labor protection and welfare of Thailand classified employment law into 3 categories below;
- Labor protection laws such as labor protection Act B.E. 2541(1998) includes all Ministerial Regulations, Determining work which non overtime pay and holiday overtime Pay, B.E. 2552 (2009), Prohibiting employers for children employees B.E. 2559 (2016), for instance.
- Safety, Occupational Health and Work Environment Laws such as Safety Occupational Health and Work Environment Laws B.E. 2554 (2011).
- Law on Labor Relations and State Enterprise Relations such as Labor Relations Act B.E. 2518 (1975)
The categories excluded procedure law for disputes over employment contract which the Establishment of the labor court and labor case procedure Act, B.E. 2522 (1979), the Regulation of labor case procedure B.E. 2556 (2013) together with Civil and Commercial Procedure etc. will be applied to the case.
Recruiting and Contractual Processes
In the recruiting processes, the employer must not only take into consideration that it is unlawful to discriminate between employees on the basis of age, gender, marital status and in the hiring process and contractual but also must comply with the General Provisions , the Employment of Labor in General, the employment of women employees and the Employment of young workers accordingly to Chapter 1 to 4 of the Labor Protection Act.
Importantly, whether by consent of the employee or not, all terms and conditions of employment contracts which reduce the benefits of the employee statute by the law, mutual agreement, collective bargaining agreement (whether, formal or informal), conditions of employment, which aimed at protecting the employee are invalid.
Employment Regulation
The employer who employs 1 to 9 employees must notify a normal working time to an employee, by specifying the commencing and ending time of work in each day of the employee, which must not exceed the working time for each type of work. (Section 23 of the Labor protection Act).
For the employer who employs Ten or more employees, section 108 of the labor protection act requires to provide the employee with the employment regulation with a statement of employees rights and duties, working day, working hours, overtime pay, leave and holiday entitlement, termination of employment and severance pay.
The employment regulation must be announced within 15 days from the date that the Employer employs ten or more employees.
Termination of Employment and Disputes
Matters related to termination of employment, such as unfair dismissal and employment termination without cause may create criminal punishment to the employer that after decision of labor protection officer or after judgment of labor court which decrees an order commanding the employer to action or not action or payment.
When disputing over the protections mentioned above, the employee may be enforced through complaints to the labor protection department or directly through the labor court without fees and lawyer.
Conclusion
Employment planning and management are very important, the employer must provide ambiguous employment regulation and employment contracts to avoid legal dispute. For Further information please contact us.
