I don't understand the thai labor laws re holidays for our workers

[bbabythai]

The 'wife' has a small business and staff are registered for social security. She pays that every month to them and they subsequently have access to the public hospital system. 

 

Now they are asking about govt' holidays and their entitlements. 

 

As far as I understand we are legally obliged to give them the following if they work 6 days a week:

1. holiday for traditional days: 13 days a yr. if this traditional day falls on the day that our business is closed then we are supposed to give it to them the next day

2. For workers who have been with us > 12 months: they can have 6 days per yr. ......    Is this 6 extra days? I dont understand this one

3.  must give the labor day holiday and govt holidays otherwise its a criminal offense. 

4. sick days. > 3 in a row ask for dr certificate... personal leave 3 days per yr....... what constitues personal leave?? I dont understand this

 

Essentially what Im confused about is that I know we have to give them all government public holidays. So does that come under number 1? 

 

So is it 13 days plus 6 days??? 

 

Any clarification is appreciated

thanks 

[uncleP]

They are taking the michael. Small businesses generally do not even pay social let alone give government holidays.

Suggest they get another job as there are plenty of people needing work. My mrs has a couple of staff who get zilch. They get paid very well but work 70 hours and 6 days a week. They only get songkran off paid. If they want a holiday they are free to take unpaid leave with notice. By the same token they were paid in full for the two months the shop was closed.

Edited June 25, 2020 by uncleP
Brain damage

[userabcd]

Did you look at the Thai labour protection act on their website? there are sections in it on holidays, pay and working hours.

 

For any further clarifications on the labour act, suggest your wife could visit the local labour office and speak with them.

Edited June 25, 2020 by userabcd

[bbabythai]

1 hour ago, uncleP said:

They are taking the michael. Small businesses generally do not even pay social let alone give government holidays.

Suggest they get another job as there are plenty of people needing work. My mrs has a couple of staff who get zilch. They get paid very well but work 70 hours and 6 days a week. They only get songkran off paid. If they want a holiday they are free to take unpaid leave with notice. By the same token they were paid in full for the two months the shop was closed.

Each to their own I suppose but you are breaking the law. I realise most people dont follow the labor laws but we decided to do the right thing. We treat our staff really well and pay them above the salaries that our competitors do for their staff. We know this because a lot of them are coming to ask telling us they want to work in our business. Our staff are really happy and this gets passed onto the customers with the excellent service they provide. In 2 yrs we have a successful business (top 3 in our city for our type of business) and the staff have a lot to do with it. Without them we would not exist. Our kindness to the staff reflects our professionalism in our business. Our reviews on fbook speak for itself. 

[craighj]

I think userabcd has offered sound advice.  You can access English language versions of Thai labour law and clearly you should comply.

 

Casual and temporary staff are treated somewhat different to permanent staff and yes there are some small differences depending on the business type though the law is the law.

 

Additionally, government office holidays are different to officially gazetted public holidays.

 

It’s not as simple as telling them to leave if they are not happy and then replacing them.

 

Craighj

[Bender Rodriguez]

solution:  you hire them by the day

 

no work, no pay

[Eric Loh]

1. Under Section 30 of the Labor Protection Law, an employee who has worked continously for 1 full year is entitled to annual leave of not less than 6 working days. (depending on the job, I gave 7-12 days annual leave)

2. Employees are entitled to national holidays and if they work, overtime compensation to be paid at rate of between 1.5 to 3 times the normal hourly rate (there are 2 kinds of holidays - national and government. Government holidays are up to company to give. I don't)

3. Under the Social Security Act, incorporated companies mandated by law to provide social security which can be used for government hospital (only ages between 15 to 60)

4. All employees are entitled to unlimited sick leave but number should not exceed 30 regular workdays per year. Employee can insist employee to produce med certificate from qualified doctor for sick leave of 3 days or more (I insist on med certificate to be produced. If not, I treat as annual leave)

 

I hope the information will be helpful. I have a incorporated company in Thailand since 2006.

[Max69xl]

On 6/25/2020 at 2:36 PM, bbabythai said:

Each to their own I suppose but you are breaking the law. I realise most people dont follow the labor laws but we decided to do the right thing. We treat our staff really well and pay them above the salaries that our competitors do for their staff. We know this because a lot of them are coming to ask telling us they want to work in our business. Our staff are really happy and this gets passed onto the customers with the excellent service they provide. In 2 yrs we have a successful business (top 3 in our city for our type of business) and the staff have a lot to do with it. Without them we would not exist. Our kindness to the staff reflects our professionalism in our business. Our reviews on fbook speak for itself. 

So why are you complaining here about your staff wanting days off during holidays if your reviews are so good? Like one of the posters suggested,talk to the labour office. 

[treetops]

On 6/25/2020 at 6:31 AM, uncleP said:

My mrs has a couple of staff who get zilch. They get paid very well but work 70 hours and 6 days a week. They only get songkran off paid. If they want a holiday they are free to take unpaid leave with notice. By the same token they were paid in full for the two months the shop was closed.

I bet they'd rather work for the OP.

[uncleP]

10 hours ago, treetops said:

I bet they'd rather work for the OP.

After being there for around 12 years and able to work absolutely anywhere else in their chosen field I doubt it.

Don't forget I'm only an observer in this. what I stated seems to be standard in the small business beauty and or retail sector. Nobody closes for public holidays because that's when they make money. 

[bbabythai]

On 6/26/2020 at 4:11 PM, Eric Loh said:

1. Under Section 30 of the Labor Protection Law, an employee who has worked continously for 1 full year is entitled to annual leave of not less than 6 working days. (depending on the job, I gave 7-12 days annual leave)

2. Employees are entitled to national holidays and if they work, overtime compensation to be paid at rate of between 1.5 to 3 times the normal hourly rate (there are 2 kinds of holidays - national and government. Government holidays are up to company to give. I don't)

3. Under the Social Security Act, incorporated companies mandated by law to provide social security which can be used for government hospital (only ages between 15 to 60)

4. All employees are entitled to unlimited sick leave but number should not exceed 30 regular workdays per year. Employee can insist employee to produce med certificate from qualified doctor for sick leave of 3 days or more (I insist on med certificate to be produced. If not, I treat as annual leave)

 

I hope the information will be helpful. I have a incorporated company in Thailand since 2006.

thanks for the info. we dont have an incorporated company  but still doing the SS for them. we pay half per month and they pay the other half for this. Its not so much. 

 

our staff said that they want to follow the govt holiday schedule. 

 

Re the 6 days per yr we stupidly started paying this too early (not at the end of the 1st yr). then an employee quit with no notice. We now have learnt from this...

 

We prefer to do things by the law and not thai style 'anything goes'. I think they prefer this and as mentioned above they subsequenly are happier at work which reflects on the customers. ITs all good