Thai labor law draws a distinction between employees under an open-ended employment contract and employees under a fixed-term employment contract.

A genuine independent contractor is not an employee under Thai law.

Employment contracts can be categorized as either open-ended employment contracts (indefinite term) or fixed-term employment contracts. Employment may be on a full-time or part-time basis.

Under Thai law, employment relationships are not required to be governed by written employment contracts. In other words, the terms of the employment relationship do not have to be memorialized in a written contract signed by the parties, but they may exist verbally or be implied. The employment relationship commences when the employee agrees to work for an employer, who agrees to pay wages during the period of work.

However, under general practice, it is strongly advisable to have a written employment contract to ensure that both parties fully understand the terms and conditions of the employment relationship, and to avoid any potential disputes.

All employees, regardless of whether they are part-time or full-time, are entitled to statutory entitlements, starting from the commencement date of their employment.

Yes, but the prior explicit consent of the employee must be obtained.

In accordance with the Labour Protection Act ("LPA"), where there is a change of employer, or in cases where the employer is a juristic person and a change, transfer, or merger with another juristic person is registered, the employer must obtain consent from the employees who are to be transferred. The employees will continue to have all the rights that they have with their current employer. The new employer will assume all rights and responsibilities owed to the transferred employees from the current employer.

If an employee refuses to consent to the transfer, he or she will remain employed by the current employer. If the current employer does not wish to continue employing that employee, the current employer would have to terminate the employment. This would be regarded as a termination without cause, and so the employee would be entitled to severance payments, among other things.

Asset Transfer

A change of employer is subject to the LPA. When there is a change of employer, or in the case where an employer is a juristic person, or a change, transfer, or merger with another juristic person is registered, the employer must obtain consent from the employees who are to be transferred. The new employer will assume all the rights and responsibilities owed to the transferred employees from the previous employer.

Share Transfer

Consent is not required.

Under Thai law, an employer cannot unilaterally change an employee’s conditions of employment, unless the change is more favorable to the employee, or the employee expressly agrees and consents to the change.

No, Thailand does not recognize at-will employment. An employer may terminate an employment relationship either (a) with cause or (b) without cause. 

a. Termination with cause

The LPA provides specific reasons for which an employer may terminate an employee for cause, without payment of severance, or without being required to give advance notice of termination. These include circumstances in which:

1. The employee acts dishonestly in the performance of his or her duties, or intentionally commits a criminal offense against the employer;
2. The employee intentionally causes damage to the employer;
3. The employee commits an act of negligence that causes serious damage to the employer;
4. The employee violates lawful and just work rules or regulations, or orders of the employer, for which the employer has already given the employee a written warning, except in a serious case where the employer is not required to give any warning. 
   Such written warning is valid for one year, from the date on which the employee committed the offense; 
5. The employee is absent from his or her duties without justifiable reason for three consecutive working days, regardless of whether there is a holiday in between; and
6. The employee is sentenced to a term of imprisonment by a final court judgment. If the offense was committed negligently or was a petty offense, it must have been an offense that caused damage to the employer.

Termination of employment for any reason other than those specified above, such as for unsatisfactory performance, would constitute termination without cause. 

b. Termination without cause 

When an employer terminates an employee without cause, the employer is obligated to provide the affected employee with the following:

1. Notice of termination, or payment of wages in lieu thereof;
2. Statutory severance pay; 
3. Wages, overtime pay, holiday pay, and holiday overtime pay, through the last day of work (if any);
4. Compensation for the employee’s unused annual leave from the current year, as well as unused accrued annual vacation, carried forward from past years (if any); and
5. All other payments are due under the applicable employment agreement and other applicable terms of employment.

Under Thai law, a terminated employee is entitled to bring a claim for unfair termination against the employer. Even if the employer makes all statutory payments due upon termination to the employee, the employee is still entitled to bring an unfair termination claim against the employer. 

If the court finds that the employee’s termination was unfair, the court may order the employer to:

1. Reinstate the employee (if requested by the employee); or
2. Pay damages for unfair termination, in addition to the statutory required payments.

The calculation of damages for unfair termination is not directly addressed by statute but has been defined through court practice. The established standard damages are to provide:

• One to two months’ wages for the first year of service; and 
• One month’s wages for each subsequent year of service. 

The above is only a general guideline, and the court is free to award more or less at its discretion. 

Thailand does not have any specific legislation to protect whistleblowers. However, under the Witness Protection in Criminal Cases Act, witnesses are eligible for “special protection” measures in anti-corruption cases.

While there are no specific laws that prevent or regulate the monitoring of employees at work, there are general provisions of law that provide employees with some level of privacy protection.

Office computers and email systems are generally considered the employer’s assets, and employers generally have the right to search or monitor office computer data and emails. However, pursuant to the Computer-Related Crime Act, ("CCA") if an employer accesses an employee’s personal computer system or data installed with access prevention measures, the employer may be subject to criminal penalties.

In addition, the Telecommunications Business Act stipulates that any person who commits an act of illegal interception, utilization, or disclosure of messages, information, or other data by means of telecommunications can be punished by imprisonment for up to two years, and/or a fine of up to THB 400,000. 

The CCA further states that a person who, willfully or negligently, unlawfully injures the life, body, health, liberty, property, or any right of another person is said to have committed a wrongful act (tort) and is bound to make compensation. Furthermore, there is also the risk of defamation charges, if the information was disclosed.

Yes. In accordance with the LPA, employers must pay wages, overtime payments, payments for working on holidays, and payments for working overtime on holidays, at the same rate for both male and female employees who undertake work of the same nature, quality, and quantity, or work of the same value, at an equal rate or standard.

Annual Holidays

Employees who have worked for an uninterrupted period of one year are entitled to an annual holiday of no less than six working days per year. 

In the following year, the employer may fix an annual holiday for the employee of more than six working days.

The employer may set an annual holiday on a pro-rata basis for employees who have not completed one year of service.

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to sick leave, as long as they are actually sick. The employer must pay wages to employees for sick leave equivalent to wages for a working day throughout the leave period, but not exceeding 30 working days per year.

For sick leave of three days or more, the employer may require the employees to produce a certificate from a licensed doctor or an official medical establishment. If the employees are unable to produce such a certificate, the employees must give an explanation to the employer. 

Maternity Leave

Employers must grant pregnant employees 98 days’ maternity leave, inclusive of holidays during the leave period. The employer must pay up to 45 days’ wages during maternity leave.

Maternity leave is defined to also include leave that is taken for pre-natal exams before the delivery.

On May 5, 2019, amendments to the LPA came into effect. Pursuant to the amendments, maternity leave entitlements increased from 90 days to 98 days. Additionally, prenatal exams before delivery were also included in the definition of maternity leave.

Thai law is silent on the matter of paternity leave, and thus, it will be dependent on the policy of the employer. 

Necessary Business Leave

The amendments to the LPA also state that employers must grant employees no less than three days of necessary business leave per year, with payment of wages. 

As of March 2024, there is no pending legislation that employers should be aware of that will impact leave benefits.

Yes, restrictive covenants are recognized. However, the Unfair Contract Terms Act stipulates that contract terms that cause a person whose rights or freedom have been restricted to shoulder more of a burden than a reasonable person could have anticipated under normal circumstances will only be enforceable insofar as they are fair and reasonable under the circumstances. 

Courts are to consider the geographic scope of the area specified, and the restriction period for the rights or freedoms mentioned above, as well as the ability and opportunities for the employee to carry on his or her occupation or otherwise, engage in business, as well as all legitimate advantages and disadvantages of the contracting parties.

Several Supreme Court judgments have held that a restriction period of 24 months after employment ended, with nonspecific geographic restrictions, prohibiting an employee from directly or indirectly working, carrying out, or engaging in businesses in competition with the former employer, is fair and reasonable, and thus enforceable.

An employee may be terminated for refusing to sign a restrictive covenant. The termination will be regarded as “termination without cause”, and the employer will be obligated to provide:

1. Notice of termination, or payment of wages in lieu thereof;
2. Statutory severance pay;
3. Wages, overtime pay, holiday pay, and holiday overtime pay, through the last day of work (if any);
4. Compensation for the employee’s unused annual leave from the current year, as well as unused accrued annual vacation, carried forward from past years (if any); and
5. All other payments are due under the applicable employment agreement and other applicable terms of employment.

In addition, the employer may be subject to claims for unfair termination.

In determining to what extent the terms in a restrictive convent are enforceable as fair and reasonable, courts are to take all circumstances into account, including good faith, bargaining power, economic status, knowledge and understanding, adeptness, anticipation, guidelines previously observed, other alternatives, and all advantages and disadvantages of the contracting parties according to (1) actual conditions, (2) ordinary usage applicable to such kind of contract, (3) time and place of performance or making the contract, and (4) whether one party is made to bear a much heavier burden than the other party.

Social Security Fund

Thailand’s Social Security System is funded by contributions from workers or insured persons, employers, and additional contributions from the government. Employers with one or more employees from 15 to 60 years old must register and submit their employees’ Social Security Fund application to the Social Security System of Thailand within 30 days of the employee starting work. 

The Social Security Fund benefits include sickness, maternity, invalidity or disability, death, child allowance, old-age pension, and unemployment benefits. 

With respect to old-age pensions, a person must meet the retirement status of being at least 55 years old, with more than 180 months of contributions. 

If the insured employee dies before obtaining old-age benefits, and his or her parents, children and spouse have passed away, the benefits will go to other surviving relatives.

Provident Fund

A provident fund is not compulsory in Thailand and may be set up at the discretion of the employer.

Contributions to the fund will be made by both the employer and the employee. The contributions to be made by the employer must always at least equal the rate of the employee’s savings. 

Upon termination of membership, a member (employee) will receive all his or her savings and the incurred benefits, as well as a certain amount of the employer's contribution, and the incurred benefits, according to the fund’s articles. 

In the case of resignation, a member can choose to temporarily keep his or her money within the former fund, before transferring it to the provident fund of his or her new employer. This allows members to seamlessly maintain their retirement savings in the provident fund system. 

Yes, the employer is required to register the employee with the Social Security Fund and the Workmen’s Compensation Fund within 30 days of the employee starting work.

Thai law does not set a mandatory retirement age for the private sector. However, there is a mandatory retirement age of 60 for most government officials. For the private sector, the retirement age, if any, depends on each employer’s internal policy. Employers may choose to adopt a policy that establishes a mandatory retirement age if the employers so wish. Many employers in Thailand set the mandatory retirement age at 60 years old.  

If the employer has a retirement policy, or the employer agrees with the employee on the age of retirement, both parties are required to comply with the policy or agreement. However, the law does not prohibit both parties from agreeing otherwise, such as an extension for retirement or renewal of employment.

If the employer does not have a retirement policy, employees who are 60 years old or older may inform their employer of their intention to retire. It is not compulsory, but optional, for those employees who are 60 years old or older to exercise their right to retirement.

If the employer has a retirement policy that sets the age of retirement at more than 60 years old, employees who are 60 years old or older may inform the employers about their intention to retire. It is not compulsory, but optional, for those employees who are 60 years old or older to exercise this right to retirement. The intention of the employee to retire will become effective 30 days after the date on which the employee informs their employer.

Social Security Fund

If an employer continues to employ an employee beyond 60 years of age, the employer is obligated to contribute to the Social Security Fund, and the benefits for such employees will continue. 

However, if the employer hires an employee whose age is beyond 60 years of age (i.e., at the first date of employment, the employee’s age is beyond the retirement age), the Social Security Fund obligations will not apply to that employee. The employer is not obligated to contribute to the fund, and cannot deduct the employee’s salary to contribute to the fund. This employee will not be entitled to benefits from the Social Security Fund, as there are no contributions from either the employer or the employee.

Provident Fund

This is dependent upon the provident fund regulations of each company. If the provident fund regulations specify that an employee who works for the company beyond the retirement age is still entitled to provident fund contributions, then the employee will be entitled to the benefits derived from the provident fund.

However, if the provident fund regulations of a company specify that the provident fund benefits will cease once the employee is beyond retirement age, then the benefits will cease.

If there is no government order to shut down, the employer can require the employees to return to work in the office. This is a lawful order of the employer. If the employees do not follow this lawful order of the employer, it could be considered a violation of the lawful order of the employer. In such circumstances, the employer can impose a disciplinary sanction on the employees, provided that such disciplinary sanction is described in the work rules, or policies, of the employer.

If the employees neglect their duties for a period of three consecutive workdays without reasonable cause, whether or not there is a holiday intervening in the period, the employer may terminate the employment without providing advance notice of termination and without paying severance. However, the employer must prove that the employees’ neglecting of their duties for 3 consecutive workdays was without a reasonable cause.