Finishing Work Permit / Employment Process?

[grimace]

Hey all.

My first post.

I'm midway through the year working as a teacher near Hua Hin (nice area and having a lot of fun) and I've got a work permit till April next year. I've been getting a lot of conflicting info from locals and other teachers around here on the process of "ceasing employment" and couldn't find anything definitive on this site or in the forums.

a) What happens to your work permit - give it back to school? dpt of immigration?

Tax - do you need to show that you've paid tax when you leave the country?

If someone could lay out the process step by step starting from your employer notifying the immigration dept that your no longer working and what you need to do.

I'm interested because a teacher at my school got fired last week (justifyably too I might add) and he has a work permit till April next Year. He seems to think he can cross over into Cambodia no problems and get a tourist visa coming back. Is he going to get hassled at the border?

[kenkannif]

From (and I hope this okay?):

http://www.ajarn.com/Banter/visaworkpermitfaq.htm

Q My school will get me a work permit if I sign a one-year contract. What happens if I break that contract?

A Well, the school will be pissed off for a start (unless you're an awful teacher and they can't wait to see the back of you). In addition to that, you will probably be required to reimburse the school for the costs of work permit, teacher's license, admin staff's shoe leather, etc, etc. You can expect to cough up something in the region of 5,000 baht.

More importantly, once you quit a job, your work permit and one-year visa are null and void. You now have SEVEN days to leave the country and get a new visa. Make sure that you keep tabs on EXACTLY when the school hands back your work permit to the labor department, because that's when the 7-day clock starts ticking. I've heard numerous stories of schools failing to tell the teacher that they've already cancelled the work permit and the teacher suddenly staring at a hefty overstay fine. Needless to say, breaking a contract is something you really should avoid doing if at all possible.

Paully also adds the following - In addition to the advice already given, remember that if your written employment contract has a notice period clause in it (as is common), for example, allowing your employer or you to terminate the contract on one month's written notice to the other party, you are NOT breaking your contract by giving your employer one month's written notice of leaving. You are terminating your contract by agreement. This is as valid in Thai law as in US or UK law. Your employer may still be pissed off, but there's nothing in law he can do about it other than try to hold up your application for a new work permit. Keep a copy of your letter of notice and contact the Ministry of Labour if your old employer refuses to give you/the Min of Labour a release form (Tor Dor 11) agreeing to your leaving and allowing you to get a new work permit.

<^ I know the odd person that's got away without doing the 7 day run, BUT it's a risk and you will be breaking the law!

Also this might have relevance to you as well:

Q Can my employer refuse to give me my teacher's license when I leave?

A It's common for schools to hang on to your teacher's license (both the permanent version and the version issued to that school for your current contract period) while you're working there. Schools sometimes like to hang on to your passport and your blue work permit book too, officially for safekeeping, unofficially perhaps in an attempt to stop you disappearing at the end of the month. Remember that your passport is yours, the school has no right to keep it and it should be kept with you. The work permit has to be kept with you OR at your place of work during working hours: again the school has no automatic right to keep it in the school safe forever. At the basic minimum, keep a copy of the work permit in case you need it to refer to the number or issue/expiry date.

When you leave your work, the school must give you your permanent teacher's license (but not the current one issued for your employment) whether you leave Thailand or remain to go on to a new job. Check you have the original license with the original photograph and stamp on it. They have no right to keep the original permanent license and give you only a copy. It's yours, not theirs.

[Darth Bangkok]

what happens when the school either doesn't want to return the temporary teachers license to you or do the paper work required to return it? This piece of paper must be returned, just like the work permit, before you will be allowed to get another one to work at another school.