Hi fellow teachers,
I need some input please.
I am currently teaching at a Thai school for four years with wp and a proper recurring contract.
So I got paid on Friday and it seems that the school deducted a daily wage from it because there was a public holiday on May 22nd. They have never done this before.
I believe that this a violation of the Thai labour law.
Am I right?
Additional question: If a make a fuss and they fire me with due notice, am I entitled to severance pay?

The law says you should be paid for public holidays.

39 minutes ago, bigt3116 said:

The law says you should be paid for public holidays.

only if you work on those days or the holiday coincides with your regular 'off' day

What does your work contract state?

 

It usually should have all these details such as work days per month or work hours per week, monthly/weekly/hourly rate/salary, public holidays, severance, holidays, sick leave, etc...

 

Section 56. An Employer shall pay Wages to an Employee equivalent to Wages of a Working Day for the following Holidays:
(1) a weekly holiday, except for an Employee who receives Wages calculated on
a daily, hourly or piece rate basis;
(2) a traditional holiday; and
(3) annual Holidays.

 

Section 60. For the purposes of wage payment under Section 56, Section 57, Section 58, Section 59, Section 71 and Section 72, whereas an Employee receives Wages calculated on a piece rate basis, the Employer shall pay Wages for Holiday or Leave equivalent to the average Wages of Working Day received by the Employee during the period of payment before such Holiday or Leave.

 

I would think no need to make a fuss, any reasonable employer would work with the employee to solve the issue so that it is within the law. One would raise the issue and discuss and get their feedback.

 

Chapter 11
Severance Pay

 

Thai Labour act 2541 attached refer

Chapter 5 - Wages, Overtime Pay, Holiday Pay and Holiday Overtime Pay

The Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541.pdf

You have been teaching at this school for 4 years and this is the first time that they have deducted for a public holiday? 

 

Check your contract first, but has anything changed at your school?  For instance is there a new director or a new head of finance?  This could just be a misunderstanding or error, so I would confirm that they really are deducting for a public holiday before kicking up a fuss.

18 hours ago, digbeth said:

only if you work on those days or the holiday coincides with your regular 'off' day

 

Do you have a link for that? Certainly not mentioned on any of the many websites I checked yesterday.

 

2 hours ago, bigt3116 said:

 

Do you have a link for that? Certainly not mentioned on any of the many websites I checked yesterday.

 

 

sorry, yes it's a paid holiday - same as paid sick leave and annual leave that's normal in Thailand i forgot that it's paid as in no deduction if you take the day off

 

What I meant was that you don't get paid extras 1.5 times the normal rate if you have to come to work on that day, 

 

otherwise you can take the day off with no deduction from your normal salary - a paid holiday if you consider it like that

That's the 1st sign that you're going to get the "I'm sorry, our budget can't afford to renew your contract for next year..." speech.

Also, do you have a copy of your original and current contracts? Another thing that happens at Thai schools is, they rewrite the conditions and terms pages so it only shows you were on 6 month renewals. (happened to me)

On 6/9/2024 at 9:18 PM, mrwebb8825 said:

Another thing that happens at Thai schools is, they rewrite the conditions and terms pages so it only shows you were on 6 month renewals. (happened to me)

 

There must have been a reason they did that to you, in 16 years here it has never happened to me, in fact my contract just changed from 1 to 2 years.

On 6/3/2024 at 2:18 PM, HamburgToBKK said:

Additional question: If a make a fuss and they fire me with due notice, am I entitled to severance pay?

What does your contract say???

Assuming you're paid on a monthly salary basis, rather than hours worked basis, they're legally required to pay you your full salary even if you don't work on a public holiday.

If you're paid on an hours worked basis, then things may get a little bit more complicated.

If they were to fire you, after legally working for the same school for 4 years, they would be required to pay some severance pay if your contract wasn't renewed.  Also worth noting too, that if you were to lose your job (or even just resign from it), then if you have social security they'd pay you about 5000+ THB per month for 3 or 6 months (Depending if fired or you quit).