Thailand Law Library

by Thailand Lawyer

His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej is graciously pleased to proclaim that:

Whereas it is expedient to revise the law on labor protection;

Be it, therefore, enacted by the King by and with the advice and consent of the National Assembly, as follows:

This Act is called the “Labor Protection Act, B.E. 2541”.

This Act shall come into force after the expiration of one hundred and eight days from the date of its publication in the Government Gazette.

The following shall be repealed:

1. Announcement of the Revolutionary Council No. 103, dated 16th March B.E. 2515;
2. Act Amending the Announcement of the Revolutionary Council No. 103, dated 16th March B.E. 2515 (No. 1), B.E. 2533.

Any other laws, rules and other regulations in so far as they are prescribed in this Act, or are contrary to or inconsistent with any provisions of this Act, shall be replaced by this Act.

This Act shall not apply to:

1. central administration, provincial administration and local administration;
2. state enterprises under the law governing state enterprise labor relations.

Other than the cases as prescribed in paragraph one, Ministerial Regulations may be issued to exempt the application of this Act in part or in while to any category of Employer.

In this Act:

• “Employer” means a person who agrees to accept an Employee for work by paying him or her Wages and includes:
1. a person entrusted by the Employer to act on his or her behalf;
2. where an Employer is a juristic person, a person authorized to act on behalf of the juristic person and a person entrusted by the authorized person to act on its behalf shall be included; or
3. whereas an entrepreneur makes an arrangement, via a lump sum method of wage payment, with a person entrusted to supervise the performance of work and to be responsible for the payment of Wages to an Employee, or with a person, who is not in the employment service business, to procure Employees on behalf of the entrepreneur, and such work is a part of or the whole of production process or business under the responsibility of the entrepreneur, then the entrepreneur shall also be deemed to be an Employer of the Employee;
• “Employee” means a person who agrees to work for the Employer in return of Wages, regardless of the name used;
• “Hirer” means a person who agrees to hire a person to carry out any work, in whole or in part, for his or her own interest and to pay remuneration in return for the result of the work;
• “First contractor” means a person who agrees to carry out any work, in whole or in part, to fulfill the interests of the Hirer;
• “Sub-contractor” means a person who enters into a contract with the First Contractor to carry out any work, in whole or in part, under the responsibility of the First Contractor for the interest of the Hirer, and includes a person who enters into a contract with the Sub-contractor to undertake sub-contracted work under the responsibility of the Sub-contractor, irrespective of the numbers of the sub-contracting;
• “Contract of Employment” means a contract, whether written or oral, expressed or implied, whereby a person called an Employee agrees to work for a person called an Employer and the Employer agrees to pay Wages for the duration of the work;
• “Working Day” means a day scheduled for an Employee to work regularly;
• “Holiday” means a day scheduled for an Employee to take a weekly holiday, traditional holiday or annual holiday;
• “Leave” means a day which an Employee takes a sick leave, leave for sterilization, leave for necessary business, leave for military service, leave for training or knowledge and skill development or maternity leave;
• “Wages” means money agreed between an Employer and an Employee to be paid in return for work done under a Contract of Employment for regular working periods on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly or other period of time basis, or on the basis of piecework done during the normal working time of a Working Day and includes money to be paid by an Employer to an Employee on Holiday and on Leave during which the Employee does not work but is entitled to the money under this Act;
• “Wages of a Working Day” means Wages paid for working fully during normal working time;
• “Minimum Wage Rate” means the minimum rate of Wages determined by the Wages Committee under this Act;
• “Basic Minimum Wage Rate” means the rate of Wages determined by the Wages Committee to be the basis for determining the Minimum Wage Rate;
• “Overtime Work” means working beyond or in excess of the normal working time or exceeding the daily working hours agreed by an Employer and an Employee under Section 23, on a Working Day or Holiday, as the case may be;
• “Overtime Pay” means money paid to an Employee by an Employer in return for working overtime on a Working Day;
• “Holiday Pay” means money paid to an Employee by an Employer in return for working on a Holiday; “Holiday Overtime Pay” means money paid to an Employee by an Employer in return for working overtime on a Holiday;
• “Severance Pay” means money paid to an Employee by an Employer upon termination of employment, in addition to any other kind of money agreed by the Employer to pay to the Employee;
• “Special severance pay” means money paid to an Employee by an Employer upon expiry of the Contract of Employment due to a special event as prescribed under this Act;
• “Contributions” means money paid by an Employee to the Employee Welfare Fund;
• “Supplementary Contributions” means money paid by an Employer as a supplement to the Employee Welfare Fund in favor of an Employee;
• “Labor Inspector” means a person appointed by the Minister for the execution of this Act;
• “Director-General” means the Director-General of the Department of Labor Protection and Welfare;
• “Minister” means the Minister having charge and control for the execution of this Act.

The Minister of Labor and Social Welfare shall have charge and control of this Act and have the power to appoint Labor Inspectors and to issue the Ministerial Regulations and Notifications for the execution of this Act.

In appointing the Labor Inspectors, the scope of powers and duties and conditions on the performance of the Labor Inspector may also be prescribed.

Ministerial Regulations and Notifications shall come into force upon their publication in the Government Gazette.