Last week i posted about problems with my job.

I work for an american/thai company in construction as a manager.

We finished a contract on the 23rd of december and i was paid until the end of december,my boss told me he hoped to have a contract in place the 1st week of january,he still doesnt have one! but told me he doesnt want me to leave but also cant pay me.

I asked on here what my legal rights were last week,i am on a work permit and have been paying tax and working since june of last year,the advice i recieved was not to quit as i may not get paid for january and certainly not the one months severance pay.

I have asked my boss to pay for my rent and food at least and he says he has no money,i think he wants me to quit so he doesnt have to give me anything.

He has left me in an awkward posistion with no money coming in and dont know what to do.

If i go to the labour board(also dont have the address)how long does this process take,also if i go to the labour board he will probably fire me which then leaves me without a visa(my business visa i got in loas was only to the 29th of sept)then it was and is a extension of stay till sept 2013.

so if in fact he does legaly have to pay me for january and also the 1 month severance and refuses how long does it usually take for the labour board to act?

With funds dwinderling and the fact once i start this ball rolling i would have to exit the country and re-enter to get a new visa to see this thing through.

If any one can give me any information that may help me i would appreciate it,this whole thing is a mess and its driving me mad not knowing what to do.

What powers do the labour board have to help me?

regard Martin

If you haven't quit, and he hasn't sacked you, he should be paying you.

For you to keep your work permit, he should be paying you.

If he isn't paying you (or going to pay you), he has effectively sacked you.

If he has (effectively) sacked you, he/you should be cancelling the work permit and your extension of stay.

If he hasn't paid your severence pay, then you can go to the Labour Department. You would most likely win, but it will take a few months.

He probably wouldn't owe you January pay since you haven't done any work for him.

I would tell him that you unless he pays you for January, you have to leave, and he will have to pay you severence, and if he doesn't, you'll have no choice but to go to the Labour Department.

Depending on the money involved, it may not be worth following up, but that's a decision that you need to weigh up.

You have a dilemma; Labour are pretty good at chasing employers to get severence pay for workers who have been laid off; however you would need to be fired first before Labour would help.

If you get fired your Extension of Permission to Stay and Work Permit will be cancelled and you then have 24 hours to leave Thailand to make other visa arrangements or to re-enter on a 15/30 day Visa exempt emtry.

Your best bet is to go with a Thai speaker and have an informal chat with Labour as to how they would help, then go and have a serious chat with your employer as to what your realistic options are.

If your employer can say offer to make up your back wages once a new contract is started and/or pay a part salary, then this may be a better route to follow, if you can hold on with what funds you currently have.

Follow this route and at least you still have a job and Permission to Stay, bottom line is how long can you afford to hang on?

I would also strongly advise you to look for a new job at the same time, for example in my area of Phuket there is currently effectively 100% employment in construction - don't know where you are though.

Laboor office, depends on where you live/work. http://www.labour.go.th/en/index.php/contact

What they will do is contact your employer and if he keeps refusing they will go to court on your behalve and you wold probably win. Going to court always will take time, but being involved in a court proceding is a reason for an extension of stay from immirgation with docuemnts proving you are involved in a court proceding.

Your boss can not legally fire you for going to the labour department with a report. There are only six reasons to fire someone in Thailand and that is not one of them. Also to fire a person the employer is legally obliged to issue the employee with a written warning first (so he can't make up another reason for firing you). If he claims that he has to make you redundant he can't employ someone else to fill that position again and has to pay you redundancy money plus give you notice of the redundancy. As for January he has to pay you whether you actually worked or not provided that you were still on the payroll and available to work. The amount of compensation you will be due depends on the length of time you were (are) employed. My advice is go to your local labour department and report the company then, go to the company and inform them before the labour department does - tell them you are prepared to make a deal involving xxx amount of money in exchange for withdrawing your complaint (you can do this simply by telling the labour department that you wish to do so). If they still disagree sit back and let the labour officer contact them - believe me they will soon pay rather than go to court. Oh and don't forget that s a westerner you will still be paying tax on money that you are not earning if you wish to get another work permit and visa

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