The new Act requires the tri - partite on Labor Welfare to compose the Committee, similar to the tri – partite committee on minimum wages. The only difference is that this Labor Welfare Committee has an official person of the Department of Labor Welfare as its member and secretary, and it has the power to lay out the committee’s policy, propose its opinion to the minister of Labor, advise to labor welfare, including the follow – up and propose the feed – back to the Minister. This is a new enactment like the provision on minimum wages.
The Minister of Labor has the power to issue a Ministerial Regulation prescribing the standard of arranging labor welfare of employees, with which the employer shall have to comply, and the employer shall have to put up the notice of such standard at the work place for information of all employees. This is also a new provision like that on minimum wages.
The new Act requires and work place having 50 employees or more to have an in – hour welfare committee consisting of five members selected from the representatives of employees. If there is a committee under the old law, to organize the said committee under this law is not necessary.
The duty of the Welfare Committee is to join hands with the employer for jointly arranging the employee’s welfare, to give the employer advice as to manipulation of such welfare, and to look after employee’s welfare in general.
The employer shall hold joint meeting with the said committee at least three months a time. In case the majority of committee members request or the Labor Union so requests, the employer shall have to hold such a joint meeting.
. Security Committee
The new Act requires a very important committee to be set up. Called the Committee on Security and Occupational and Environmental Health at Work, consisting of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare as chairman, the Director – General of Welfare Department, a representative of the Department of Public Health, a representative of the Department of Industrial Factories, a representative of Civil Works Department, and a representative of the Department of Pollution Control, as committee members and 7 (seven) representatives from the employees’ side and another 7 (seven) from the employer’s side, appointed by the Minister of Labor, with an official person from the Department of Labor Welfare as a member and the secretary of the Committee. It has the duty to propose to the Minister and the government agencies its opinion concerning its policy and plan or security
measures for occupational and environmental developments, and its opinion in the issuance of ministerial regulations, ministerial, notification or rules, and its opinion concerning work security, and any other duty required by law, by giving the power to the Minister to issue minister regulations on this matter. If the labor inspector has found that the employer fails to implement any of them, he has the power to warn the employer in writing to comply with it,
and if the employer still ignores the warning, he has the power to order to stop using the machine in question wholly or partly for a certain period of time until the employer complies with that, and during the time of the work cessation, the employer has to pay wages to his employees. However, the employer has the right to appeal against such order become known to him. Such appeal shall not empower the employer to resume the use of the stopping machine, except the Committee orders otherwise.
. Physical Check – up
The employer shall arrange a physical check – up for his employees and then send its result to the labor inspector in accordance with the rules prescribed by the regulation concerned. This is the same as the old law the only difference is that it requires the employer to send in the physi – cal check – up result.
. Regulation on Work
1. Every employer that has 10 (ten) or more employees must have a working regulation in the Thai language containing at least the following items:
1.1 The number of working days, working hours and interval time – breaks;
1.2 Holidays and how to take then;
1.3 Rules of working on week days and holidays;
1.4 The date and place of pay;
1.5 Date and time and the rule of taking leave of absence;
1.6 Discipline and penalty;
1.7 Complaint and the extent of how to file one; and
1.8 Termination of employment, severance pay and special severance pay.
The employer shall have to announce the enforcement of the regulation within 15 (fifteen) days of the date of having 10 (ten) employees. A copy shall be kept at the work place,another one sent to the Director – General of the Welfare Department within 7 days, and the Director – General is empowered to order the employer to amend it. The employer shall have to put up the regulation in an obvious (discerning) spot at the work place for the employees’ convenient information and observation.
2. The complaint shall contain at least 5 issues:
1) limit, 2) method, 3) investigation and hearing procedure, 4)settlement measure, and 5) protection of complainant and related persons.
3. Every amendment shall have to be notified for employees’ information.
4. In case of subsequent reduction of the number of employees to a certain number less than10 persons, the employer still has to continue maintaining the work regulation.
. Complaints
1. A complaint can be submitted only for relief of the troubles in the situation at work, but the employer may expand the scope of complaint to a wider extent.
2. A complaint can be submitted to the employees’ superior except that such superior is the cause of the trouble.
3. Receiving the complaint, the superior shall have to inquire into the matter, and if the matter is within his own authority, he must make good of it immediately. But if it is beyond his authority, he must propose it further together with his own recommendation to the person having authority to relieve the trouble, who will have to cure the situation and inform the complainant within 7 (seven) days.
4. In case of dissatisfaction with the result, the complainant is entitled to appeal further to the superior most, like the manager, but such appeal must be filed in 7 (seven) days of the date of order.
5. The superior most receiving the appeal shall have to cure the situation and inform back to thecomplainant not later than 15 days.
6. If the employee is still dissatisfied with the result, he is entitled to continue the case According to law, probably proposing the matter to arbitration or filing the case with the Labor Court.
7. Though the matter may cause inconvenience to the employer because he may spend his time in finding fact, the employer has no right to terminate the employment.
. Employee’s Date
1. The employer having 10 (ten) or more employees must keep the list of employees written up in Thai and put it on the board in the employer’s office ready for the labor inspector toexamine during working hours.
2. Such list shall contain the name of each employee, his family name, sex, nationality, date of Birth or age, current living place, the starting date of work, position of work, rate of wages and other benefits, and the expiry date of employment, if any.
If there is any change in the employment, the employer shall have to amend it within 15 Days from the date of such change or the date of knowledge of same from the employee.
This is a bit different from the old law particularly the “position or duty” of an employee. All other particulars are the same as the requirements in the old law.
By huahin Business lawyer
www.k-huahinlawyer.com