Advance Blog

April 13, 2020
Tilleke & Gibbins International Ltd.

Thailand’s Social Security Office Prepares Further COVID-19 Assistance Measures

Thailand’s Ministry of Labor is soon expected to issue two regulations and an announcement to formalize and implement the Social Security Office’s policy on COVID-19 assistance measures, reflecting two recent cabinet resolutions. Drafts are now being considered by the Office of the Council of State, after which they will be sent for the minister’s signature and announced in the Government Gazette. The following measures are expected to be announced:

Regulation on Entitlement to Compensatory Benefits in the Event of Unemployment Due to Force Majeure B.E. 2563 (2020)

The Ministry of Labor will revise the definition of force majeure in the relevant law to include hazards from communicable human diseases classified as serious under relevant laws relating to communicable diseases. This revision will bring the COVID-19 pandemic within the definition of force majeure, allowing the Social Security Office to apply section 79/1 of the Social Security Act (“SSA”) to pay compensation to employees who have had to cease working and are not receiving wages from the employer, but whose employment has not been terminated, as a result of one or more the following events related to the COVID-19 pandemic:

  • The employer orders the cessation of specific employees’ work due to the force majeure obstructing normal business operations.
  • The employee has to cease working due to the force majeure, with the approval of the employer.
  • The government orders the employer to close the business as a preventive measure for the pandemic of disease.

Employees will be entitled to receive compensation during the work cessation period at a rate of 62% of their daily wages contributions to the Social Security Office. This entitlement is limited to a maximum of 90 days.

Regulation on Criteria and Rates for Compensatory Benefits in the Event of Unemployment Amidst the Economic Crisis B.E. 2563 (2020)

This regulation will declare an economic crisis from March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2022, and will allow the Social Security Office to pay compensation to employees whose employment contract ends for the following reasons during this period:

  • Termination by the employer. This entitles the employee to receive compensation at the rate of 70% of their daily wages contributions to the Social Security Office. This entitlement is limited to 200 days for each termination.
  • Resignation or expiration of definite employment. This entitles the employee to receive compensation at the rate of 45% of their daily wages contributions to the Social Security Office, limited to 90 days for each period of unemployment.

Announcement on Rules, Procedures, and Criteria for Deduction of Contributions by Employers and Insured Persons in the Event of Pandemic of COVID-19 B.E. 2563 (2020)

This declaration will temporarily decrease the mandatory Social Security Fund contributions under section 33 of the Social Security Act B.E. 2533 (1990) to 1% for employees and 4% for employers (see this article for more information).

Employers and employees should consider the ramifications of these pending regulations so that they can take appropriate actions, if necessary, once the measures are officially issued. The measures above reflect cabinet decisions that are expected to be adopted into legislation in due course, but changes may occur as the legislation passes through the formalities before coming into force. We will continue to update you of any such changes as this situation develops.

Chusert Supasitthumrong, partner, Tilleke & Gibbins
Chusert Supasitthumrong, a partner at Tilleke & Gibbins, is a trial and appellate lawyer specializing in labor and employment law. An expert in this field and the go-to lawyer for Thailand’s largest employers, Chusert excels at solving critical employment disputes, from labor strikes to layoffs to contested for-cause terminations. He is one of just a handful of private practice lawyers in Thailand licensed as a Labor Relations Advisor with the Thai Ministry of Labor, which enables him to engage directly with labor unions in negotiations on behalf of corporate clients. Chusert is recognized as a leading labor and employment lawyer in Thailand by Benchmark Litigation, and in 2019, he received a Client Choice award for Employment and Benefits from Lexology and the International Law Office.
Share:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019) (“PDPA”)

As the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) also applies to personal data collected prior to the PDPA’s entry into force, please be informed that AustCham Thailand will automatically keep your contact details including email address, name and last name, and company details, on our mailing list.

Your data was received by AustCham Thailand as a result from you either registering or attending an event, contacting our office or subscribing to regular updates via the website. However, if you would like to stop receiving emails AustCham Thailand and revoke your consent for AustCham to keep and use your data to contact you for chamber events and updates, please scroll down to the end of this email and click “Unsubscribe from this list”. Your personal data will be shortly deleted once the opt-out notice request is received.

Please note that your data is kept in AustCham’s CRM system, please see here for AustCham’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. AustCham uses a management software system from Wild Apricot, and emails are distributed through MailChimp.

MEMBER LOG IN