Staff arrested by police

[stevenl]

One of my staff has been arrested by police, and will most likely spend 2 months in jail, drugs possession. Now I was not happy with her, but due to several reasons could not build up a case to fire her.

 

Would this jail time, therefor absence of work, be a reason to legally fire her, without having to pay compensation?

[NE1]

Wouldn't the criminal charge of drug possession be enough ?

[stevenl]

NO idea, I hope someone on here knows. In general labor protection in Thailand is quite good, so I'm not sure here.

[VyacheslavKHV]

If she will be convicted and imprisoned - you can fire her without compensation.   

 

Upon termination of employment you  need to specify the fact which is the cause of termination in a letter of termination of employment or inform the cause of termination to the employee. 

She will not able to get any compensation according to Employment Protection Act. 

[wobblyjohn]

Was she taking drugs at work or under the influence whilst working

Did she fail a blood test at work 

Is it possible the drugs were planted by police

Are you just looking for a cheap way to reduce your staff 

[uncleP]

Forget the criminal matter and fire her for not turning up for work ???? but you could also ask for a drug test ????

[blackcab]

You have two routes to terminate the employee without severance pay:

 

1. Neglect of duties for a period of three consecutive work days without reasonable cause, whether or not a holiday intervenes.

 

Basically, they don't show up at work, they don't arrange holiday and they do not submit a doctor's sick certificate.

 

That's a very easy route because you don't have to prove anything except their absence.

 

2. You can terminate without severance for imprisonment, but if you are challenged in Labour Court you may be asked to prove their imprisonment.

 

It's much easier to go with option 1. Make sure you send repeated registered letters to their address stating that they have been absent from work without permission. Keep copies of the letters, the registered delivery receipts and a print out of any online proof of delivery.

 

After 3 letters, send a final letter terminating her employment stating the reason why. Explain that you have contacted her by registered mail 3 times previously. Give the dates of the letters and the registered letter numbers.

 

Think ahead, and imagine you have to explain yourself in Labour Court. Do everything properly and methodically and make sure nobody else can make your proof vanish from your office.

 

In this case time is on your side, so you can get all of this resolved in 10-14 days.

 

Labour Protection Act, Section 119 (6):

 

The Employer is not required to pay severance pay to an employee whose employment has been terminated under any of the following conditions:

 

6. being imprisoned by a final judgment of imprisonment with the exception for offenses arising out of negligence or for petty offenses.

[Chris.B]

How long did she work for you and how much is the compensation?

[stevenl]

Thanks guys.

 

I don't think there will be courtcase, but there are some complications: she is living in an apartment on top of the shop, with access via the shop, she is my wife's daughter (who wants to get rid of her as well), she is the one who has been taking care of social security, we (my wife and myself) are taking care of her kids (legally).

 

With personal and business mixed up this is all tricky.

 

But thanks, I now know the legalities to take care of this. Will see how to sort this.

[blackcab]

An off topic post has been removed.

[stevenl]

I have decided to leave things for the moment as they are. In the future it will be up to mother and daughter to sort things out.

[jomtienisgood]

2 hours ago, stevenl said:

I have decided to leave things for the moment as they are. In the future it will be up to mother and daughter to sort things out.

That sounds a very sensible way of doing.....

[LeoCesar]

Write a letter to her and demand a drug test provided by you at a certain time, if she fails that test or doesnt show up, use it against her to fire her.

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, LeoCesar said:

Write a letter to her and demand a drug test provided by you at a certain time, if she fails that test or doesnt show up, use it against her to fire her.

Thanks, but firing her for not showing up seems the easier solution.

 

If you look at my post #11 I intend not to do anything for the moment.

[Tony125]

7 hours ago, stevenl said:

I have decided to leave things for the moment as they are. In the future it will be up to mother and daughter to sort things out.

Personally I think that is the best solution in this situation, good luck.

[The Theory]

On 8/19/2020 at 11:25 AM, stevenl said:

Would this jail time, therefor absence of work, be a reason to legally fire her, without having to pay compensation?

Was she arrested during work hours or on the way to/from work ? That would be important. If yes, you can do it without any doubt. 
 

 

 

[holy cow cm]

People do stupid things. Put her on probation and hope she shapes up.