Termination 0f Employment (teaching.)

[Bangkokphil]

i was phoned tonight by a friend who has worked in Bangkok as an english Teacher for the same school for 8 years on xmas eve they were sacked...told they were too Expensive????? The person has 2 children from a common law relationship with a thai fem. they are now seperated but he has daily contact with the children

I am meeting him Thursday Night to discuss the situation and am wondering if anyone can tell me his Rights as a teacher or as a Father. so I can give him advice and not just sympathy......He currently has mannaged to get a two moth extension and is currently looking for work but is finding it hard as most schools are closed.. ANY ONE HELP PLEASE...Ooops sorry for shouting

Edited January 15, 2008 by Bangkokphil

[lopburi3]

If he is listed as father on birth certificates he should be able to obtain non immigrant O visas to visit them but that is about it for having children. I assume the 60 days he has now is the one time extension to visit child (section 7.23 of police order 606/2006).

Don't know employment laws.

[Ijustwannateach]

In terms of teaching work: whether he was working illegally or not he is eligible for roughly 1 month of severance at his most recent wage for each year he worked. If he was working legally he can collect this without any penalty; in fact he may get more if the school attempts to block him illegally. Unfortunately, if he wasn't working legally (no work permit) then he will collect but he will also suffer penalties for breaking employment law, including being deported.

"S"

[Guest]

Also depends on the contract he signed. Many schools have short term contracts renewed periodically to get around labour laws.

[Briggsy]

Regarding severance pay, he may well be entitled to a considerable payment worth several months' salary. However, he will probably have to push the matter ultimately to an industrial tribunal but there is a chance he will succeed.

Regarding your assertion that "finding teaching work is hard", I can only assume we are talking about different Thailands. Provided your friend does not have facial tattoos, most people can find a teaching job in Bangkok in under 48 hours so I would not worry about that.

Regarding his ability to stay in Thailand legally, at the very least, he could get a 60-day tourist visa from Penang and then extend it for another 30 days. It is by no means difficult unless one runs out of funds.

Things are not as awful as they may seem for your friend.

[TerryLH]

"Also depends on the contract he signed. Many schools have short term contracts renewed periodically to get around labour laws."

The Labor Law prohibits that. Many schools probably believe that works, not knowing it's against the Labor Act.

It works in many cases because employees don't know all of their rights.

See below.

Section 20. When an employee has not worked continuously because his or her boss had the intention of not permitting the employee to have rights under this Act, regardless of the nature of the employee’s duties and the intervals between the periods of service, all periods of service shall be included for the purpose of calculation of the rights entitlements of that employee.

[Briggsy]

Another tactic that schools use is the "resignation letter". Anyone who has a work permit in Thailand knows they have to sign umpteen documents, the majority of which are in Thai. Few foreigners in the initial application stage have been in Thailand long enough to be able to read Thai. The school will slip in a resignation letter in with the documents without telling the foreigner who happily signs it not knowing what it is. The school keeps this on file. Years down the road and the foreigner tries to claim severance pay in line with the employment law and the school will produce the resignation letter so claiming no severance pay is due.