Thailand Labor and Employment
By: Magna Carta Law Office
Working Hours
An employee’s working time shall not exceed 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week. If the nature of work may be harmful to the health and safety of an employee, the working time shall not exceed 7 hours per day or 42 hours per week.
An employee must be given at least 1 day holiday in a week and at least 1 hour resting time after working continuously for 5 hours in a day.
Traditional Holidays
Employees in Thailand are entitled to 13 paid traditional holidays per year.
An employer shall not require an employee to work on a holiday unless it is emergency work or the nature of work requires it to be performed continuously and stoppage may cause damage to the work. However, hotel businesses, entertainment establishments, transportation, food and beverage services, medical establishments, clubs and associations may require their employees to work on a holiday. The employer must then make an agreement with the employee to take another day off to substitute for the traditional holidays or the employer is obliged to pay Holidays Pay to the employee.
Annual Leave
An employee who has worked for an uninterrupted period of 1 year is entitled to annual leave of not less than 6 working days in one year. The employer and the employee may agree in advance to accumulate and postpone any annual leave that has not yet been taken in a year to be included in the following years.
Sick Leave
An employee is entitled to sick leave as long as he or she is actually sick and shall receive the basic pay during the sick leave not exceeding 30 working days per 1 calendar year. For sick leave of 3 days or more, employees are required to produce a certificate from a first-class physician or an official medical establishment.
Maternity Leave
A female employee who is pregnant shall be entitled to maternity leave of not more than 90 days for each pregnancy and shall be entitled to wages for maternity leave equivalent to the wage of a working day throughout the leave period, but not exceeding 45 days per year.
An employer shall be prohibited to require a pregnant employee to perform any of the following work:
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Work involving vibrating machinery or engine;
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Work of driving or going on a vehicle;
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Work of lifting, carrying, pulling or pushing of loads in excess of 15 kilograms;
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Work on a boat; or
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Any other work as prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations
Employers must not require their pregnant employees to work between 10.00pm and 6.00am, to work overtime, or to work on holidays. Where the pregnant employee works in an executive position, academic work, clerical work or work relating to finance or accounting, the employer may require the employee to work overtime in the working days as long as there is no effect on the health of the pregnant employee and with prior consent on each occasion.
