Author: Ryan Crowley

Director Rights & Duties in a Company Limited Duties & Obligations: The duties of director in a limited company are covered under the Civil and Commercial Code of Thailand (hereinafter referred to as the ‘CCC’). Generally, a company director will be recognized as the agent of the company, to duly conduct business of the Company provided that it is done in compliance with the law and the scope of company’s objective and its’ Articles of Association (‘AoA’). Director Standard of Care: The duties/responsibilities of a director of a company (as specified under the CCC) are set out in section 1168 paragraph 2 of the CCC, which provides that the directors must in their conduct of the business apply the diligence (standard of care) of a careful business man. Specific Responsibilities of Directors: The Directors are jointly responsible for the following: […]

Difference Between Severance Pay & Special Severance Pay In this article, we shall examine the differences between normal severance pay and special severance pay under the Labour Protection Act (LPA). In relation to normal severance pay which is dealt with under section 118 of the LPA, generally speaking it is payable to employees who are terminated without cause who have worked for their employer for more than 120 days and is payable according to the employee’s length of service with their employer. However, special severance pay is different in that it applies to other situations, these are as follows: 1.         Where an employer relocates its place of business and the relocation materially affects the ordinary course of living of the employee or his/her family and the employee chooses not to stay with the employer they can terminate the employment contract […]

Occupational Health & Safety Requirements in Relation to Working in a Confined Space – Part 2 In this piece, we continue our examination of occupational health & safety (OH&S) obligations on employers in relation to having their employees working in confined spaces. We shall begin by discussing the need for supervisors to be appointed, their qualifications and duties. We shall then move on to discuss additional obligations on employers who have confined spaces in the workplace such as suitable electrical equipment, fire extinguishers & necessary safety signage/ notices. Finally, we shall discuss other related topics such as work permits (authorizing employees to work in confined spaces) and training. Supervisor for the Confined Space If an employer requires their employees to work in a confined space then the employer must appoint one or more employees to be supervisor(s). Supervisors must be […]

Occupational Health & Safety Requirements in Relation to Working in a Confined Space – Part 1   In this article, we shall discuss employer’s occupational health & safety (OH&S) obligations in relation to having their employees working in confined spaces. This topic is quite detailed hence it is necessary to split it into 2 articles. In this first installment we shall discuss several matters including defining what constitutes a “confined space” and a “hazardous atmosphere”; we shall also begin our examination of various health & safety compliance requirements which apply to employers who have staff working in this type of environment.   Ministerial Regulation on the Prescribing of Standards for the Administration & Management of Occupational Safety, Health And Work Environment in Confined Space B.E. 2547 (2004) This Regulation sets out a number of standards and obligations which employers must […]

Occupational Health & Safety in Relation to Heat, Light & Noise   In this article, we shall discuss employer’s occupational health & safety (OH&S) obligations in relation to heat, light and noise as specified in Ministerial Regulations which were issued in 2006. The article shall discuss several matters including minimum safety standards for each risk area as well as details relating to safety/protective equipment which employers must provide to affected staff in certain circumstances.   Ministerial Regulation On The Prescribing of Standards for the Administration & Management of Occupational Safety, Health And Environment in relation to Heat, Light and Noise B.E. 2549 (2006) This Regulation sets out a number of standards which employers must comply with in relation to their staff working with heat, light and noise. A summary of these minimum requirements is detailed below:   Standards Relating to […]

Employer Obligations regarding Employee Health Check up   In this article, we shall discuss employer’s obligations to provide their staff with a medical or health check-up. We will focus on a key Ministerial Regulation which prescribes the criteria and method for conducting a health check-up as well as other important requirements imposed by this regulation such as who must conduct such checks, what they need to cover and when must applicable employees undertake such health check-ups.   Ministerial Regulation Prescribing the Criteria and Method for Conducting a Health Check–up & Forwarding of Results to Labour Inspector B.E. 2547 (2004) This Regulation provides that employers who employ staff to undertake “risk factor related work” must provide these staff with a health checkup. The Ministerial Regulations define ‘‘risk factor related work” as work relating to the following: (1)    Hazardous chemical substances as […]

Domestic Workers & Thai Labour Law In this article, we shall look at domestic workers and how they are treated according to Thai labour law. To begin with we shall examine this issue from the perspective of the Labour Protection Act B.E.2541 (1998) (LPA) and its regulations, in particular we shall also look at the impact of regulation 14 and what it means for employers of domestic staff. Thereafter, we shall move onto examining how this category of workers are treated according to the Workmen’s Compensation Act BE 2537 (WCA) and the Social Security Act BE 2533 (SSA).   Treatment of Domestic Workers under the Labour Protection Act Ordinarily most employees in Thailand are entitled to the rights and benefits prescribed in this legislation, however according to Ministerial Regulation No. 14 B.E.2555 (2012) (2) which was issued under the LPA, […]

How to Conduct a Mass Employee Termination & Issues for Employers to Consider In this article, we shall look into the various factors which an employer should consider if they are planning on conducting a mass termination of their workforce. We shall examine the various stages in planning for this including preliminary steps and issues to consider right through to what to consider on the actual date of termination.   Stage 1 – Planning & Background Stage Before an employer undertakes a mass termination of their workforce, they need to consider a number of things, one of the most important being an examination of the employment agreements of the staff to be terminated along with their work to see what they provide for regarding termination, severance pay and advance notice requirements. The terminations must at a minimum be in compliance […]

Review of Act on the establishment of and Procedure for Labour Court (1979) In this article, we shall examine key aspects of the Act on the Establishment of and Procedure for Labour Court (1979) (the “Act”), we shall look at a number of important features of this legislation including the legal jurisdiction of the Court (i.e. what kinds of issues/matters can it decide upon), judgments of the court, some of the powers of the Court when hearing cases and details concerning where a labour case should be filed.   Jurisdiction of the Labour Court: Section 8 of the Act sets out the jurisdiction of the Labour Court, ‘jurisdiction’ in this context refers to the extent of power of the Court to make legal decisions and judgments. According to this section, the legal issues which the court is permitted to hear […]