Severance Pay For Teachers

[wangsuda]

Are legally employed (proper visa, work permit, and TL) FOREIGN teachers allowed severance pay under Thai labor law? I read on http://www.boi.go.th/thai/how/labor_costs.asp that severance pay can be quite a sizable amount. For those who want to know, severance pay is:

Severance Payment Entitlements

Workers employed for:

More than 120 days but less than one year - 30 days severance pay

More than one year but less than three years - 90 days severance pay

More than three years but less than six years - 180 days severance pay

More than six years but less than 10 years - 240 days severance pay

Ten years and up - 300 days severance pay

Just curious . . . in case I jump ship at the end of my contract!

Edited November 6, 2007 by wangsuda

[TerryLH]

"If the school had to pay back payments for two years, would teachers also have to pay?"

You don't get anything if you quit or get terminated for cause.

[stevemiddie]

Just curious . . . in case I jump ship at the end of my contract!

Jump ship and you get ZIP ! Sweet FA. NOTHING. ZILCH.

[pattyboy]

Just curious . . . in case I jump ship at the end of my contract!

Jump ship and you get ZIP ! Sweet FA. NOTHING. ZILCH.

Of course. If you leave them, you don't get any severance pay. You've put the school in the position where they have the burden of replacing you. They haven't placed any hardship on you when it's your choice.

But it brings up another point about severance pay for foreign workers. Many work on a year-to-year contract basis (i.e. sign a new contract every year). If these people are released by their Thai company after working for multiple years, do they get severance according to the the total amount of time? For example, if somebody worked at a Thai company for 10 years but signed a new 1-year contract every year, would they get 300 days pay, as per the table, or would they only get 30 days if the company let them go?

I hope this question seems reasonable, and anybody who has experienced this type of situation might let us know.

[alaina]

Just curious . . . in case I jump ship at the end of my contract!

Jump ship and you get ZIP ! Sweet FA. NOTHING. ZILCH.

Of course. If you leave them, you don't get any severance pay. You've put the school in the position where they have the burden of replacing you. They haven't placed any hardship on you when it's your choice.

But it brings up another point about severance pay for foreign workers. Many work on a year-to-year contract basis (i.e. sign a new contract every year). If these people are released by their Thai company after working for multiple years, do they get severance according to the the total amount of time? For example, if somebody worked at a Thai company for 10 years but signed a new 1-year contract every year, would they get 300 days pay, as per the table, or would they only get 30 days if the company let them go?

I hope this question seems reasonable, and anybody who has experienced this type of situation might let us know.

The school does have to pay severance based on the total number of consecutive years a teacher has worked at a school. I believe that theft and insubordination are the only two causes (besides a teacher quitting) that a school can use to avoid paying severance.

A friend was let go at a school for saying a few things that the administration did not like. They did not cite insubordination as the cause for his dismissal in the letter they gave him firing him. He asked for (and got) severance based on three years there.

[Ijustwannateach]

Labour law is quite strong for those who are legal teachers, and severance pay is available to foreign teachers who are "let go" or fired for insufficient reason.

[adjan jb]

i have worked 5 at a gvt university. Two months ago they decided not to renew my contract so I asked for 180 days severance pay. My employer refused.

I went to the Labour Court. They didn't accept my complaint but sent me to the Administrative court.

At the AC, an employee told me that the Labour Protection Act doesn't apply to Gvt schools and universities (All the people I've talked to, before filing the complaint - lawyers and "knowledgeable" members of this forum - told me the opposite). They accepted my complaint anyway. I had to give them photocopies of all my contracts (in Thai) and 2.5 % of the money I'm claiming.

Last week I got a letter from the judge requesting two letters to be translated into Thai (the letter I got from my employer and the one I wrote asking for severance pay)

Here we are for the moment.

I will let you know as the story unfolds.

P.S. : I found out that those who pay the Social Security (Pakan Sankom) are entitled to some benefits. See below:

The Entitlement Benefits you shall receive:

In case of termination of employment:

- Unemployment benefit for not more 180 days per year at the rate of 50 % of the wage calculated on the basis of maximum contributions of 15,000 Baht.

In case of resignation:

- Unemployment benefit for not more than 90 days per year at the rate of 30 percent of the wage calculated on the basis of maximum amount of contributions but not more than 15,000 Baht shall be payable. If in the duration of 1 year, there was more than 1 application for the unemployment benefit, the counting of the unemployment benefit receiving period in total shall not exceed 180 days; the compensation benefit for loss of income shall be paid on monthly installment basis by crediting to the Bank Account as notified by the Insured.

http://www.sso.go.th/english/content.php?m...;content_id=114

Edited November 8, 2007 by adjan jb