💦 With Songkran approaching, it’s important to have a legal understanding of ‘days-off’.

As we are approaching the Songkran holiday, businesses will find that many of their employees ask for leave in addition to the 3-day public holiday and this may have some employers worried over staff shortages and even find themselves questioning if all the Thai public holidays are even necessary.

Therefore, we thought that this time would be a good opportunity to explain to our valued clients more about Thai statutory leave and the Labor Protection Act. Vacation (or lack of) is a common cause for disgruntled employees who may bring legal action via the Labor Court against their employer who may not have understand all the intricacies of Thai leave – indeed, we’ve even seen some employers who forget to include financial compensation for untaken vacation days when they make staff redundant.

---

---

Minimum Annual Vacation Leave 

this is 6 days if the employee is working in a full-time capacity for at least one year otherwise it’s on a pro-rata basis. In the agreement, the employer must fix the vacation policy in the agreement unless the statutory minimum applies, and set the policy as to if annual leave can be postponed into following years or a substitute payment is made for untaken leave at the end of the either the first or second year. If there is no agreement for the postponement of holidays to the next working year, then the employer can request to be paid for untaken leave after two years of employment if that employee seeks a monetary alternative to carrying forward leave – if no request is made the its assumed that untaken vacation leave is rolled over indefinitely (the Supreme Court has ruled against an employer who wouldn’t carry forward untaken leave). Another important point that is easily forgotten is that a company’s basis for determining paid leave should depend only on how long the employer has been with the company and not on the age of the employer, corporate seniority or monthly salary. 

Travel for business 

if this occurs during a weekend or given public holiday then the employer should provide substitute leave for the travel time or alternatively pay overtime. 

Sick Leave 

this is paid leave for up to 30-days in a year. If an employee is sick for more than 3days then the employer has the right to ask for a medical certificate. Work related injuries/physical or mental illness proven or in the opinion of a medical specialist to be due work, or maternity leave aren’t included in this sick leave. 

Personal business leave 

This is for up to 3 days and is separate from annual leave. Normally this is for necessary government related activities such as, for example, filing personal income tax in person or transferring property ownership at the Land Department.  

Maternity leave 

98 days including day-offs for prenatal doctor appointments of which 45-days is fully paid leave and the remainder paid at a rate of 50% by the Thai government Social Security. This 98-days leave includes all public holidays that occur during this period. It is possible that if the current work is unsuitable during a pregnancy, then that person can ask for medical certificate to this effect and request a temporary change in duties (employee can refuse if no such alternative work exists but is obligated to at least seriously consider it). 

Training leave 

employee can request training at least 7-days in advance but the actual timing of training depends also depends on the approval by the employer. Training should be to improve the working skill of the employee and many cases the employer will pay normal salary during this time. There are some instances which aren’t paid such as if the employee is taking a government exam/course as demanded by the government (such as retaking early schooling) or other training that the employer does not view as being related to the employee’s work skill improvement, for example, a person who already speaks excellent English requesting to go on an English language speaking course. 

Public holidays 

he employer must provide a minimum of the 13 public holidays each year including Labour day and any other deemed compulsory by the Thai government. When public holidays fall on a nonworking day such as the weekend then these should be substituted for. If public holidays provided to an employee are less than the government’s announced public holidays, then the employer must be clear to all employees about which public holidays are being provided in good time before the holiday begins. There are some public holidays that are usually only provided to government workers such as the Royal Ploughing Ceremony.  

Military Service 

there is still military conscription for eligible Thai men although usually for those that remain in school until 18 this is undertaken as a part-time activity in the evenings between ages 15-18. For others, there is a random selection that normally takes place before or at age 21. It is important to check the status of military conscription during the hiring process of all Thai males as a few may illegally try to avoid it and this can present and inconvenient surprise. If military service is required whilst employed, then the employer must pay a normal working day for up to 60-days of military service. There might be other forms of military service by volunteer or part-time military personnel that isn’t related to conscription.  

Sterilsation leave 

There is the right to take leave for sterilisation for such a time as deemed required by a medical doctor. The basic pay shall be paid during this time and it’s unrelated to sick leave.