Implementation ‘may take years’
A tripartite working group, involving representatives of employees, employers, and the government, has reached a consensus on the need to create a contingency fund to guarantee financial compensation for laid-off employees.
This working group, formed in February and headed by the permanent secretary for Labour, Boonchob Suthamanuswong, has been studying the proposal extensively, the Bangkok Post has learned.
All parties were asked to offer their opinions and viewpoints. However, the employers’ representatives requested an implementation delay of two to three years before they are obligated to contribute regularly to the fund.
This delay request, according to Chao Khlaicharoen, speaking for the employees, makes it unlikely that the fund can be set up within the next couple of years.
Employer representatives cited the lasting financial burden of the Covid-19 pandemic as one reason to ask for a postponement of the contingency fund, Mr Chao said.
It also casts doubt on whether a new law or supplementary regulations would be needed for the fund’s execution.
The fund, despite its importance for protecting the rights of laid-off workers, has faced some opposition. Some employers’ representatives have expressed concerns about being forced to deposit large sums into the fund that they can’t withdraw, primarily to guarantee redundancy pay.
“To force employers to put a huge amount of money in an account that they aren’t allowed to withdraw from to ensure they will pay the compensation doesn’t seem like an ideal measure with which most employers will really agree,” said an employer representative.
Despite all sides agreeing the fund is needed to ensure the protection and rights of workers who are laid off and entitled to receive compensation under labour laws, no clear conclusion has been reached as to when this proposal will be implemented, said Ukrit Kanchanaket of the Employers’ Confederation of Thailand (ECOT).
He urged more discussions about the proposal, which at this point has been agreed on in principle.
Kanjana Poolkaew, deputy director of the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare, said more discussions will follow.
The number of employers flouting the labour protection law, passed in 1998 to protect laid-off workers following the 1997 Asian financial crisis or “Tom Yam Kung Crisis”, might not be high.
However, many workers suffer the consequences of this law violation, said Somphot Anchaya, a representative from the employee side.
The committee manages the existing fund which pays compensation to laid-off workers who have been unlawfully refused compensation by employers.
Some foreign investors have simply fled the country and avoided paying the compensation, while others claimed they didn’t have enough money to meet the payments, said Mr Somphot.
The existing fund is legally capable of only paying 70 times the daily pay rate of each laid-off worker — an amount far too low for helping laid-off workers whose employer refused to pay them in full, he said.
This issue is compounded by the fact that employers refusing to pay redundancy can still close their businesses and open new ones due to government policies supporting new businesses.
The contingency fund is needed to safeguard workers’ rights, he said.