THAILAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Nam-Ake Lekfuangfu, Theeranit Pongpanarat and Panitan Pruksakasemsuk, Baker McKenzie (Bangkok)
er even if the employer has already paid them all statu - tory payments upon termination, and ask the court to order: • reinstatement (rather rare); or • separate unfair termination compensation. Generally, the Supreme Court’s precedents require that the termination must be fair both substantively (eg, the ground for termination must be justifiable and reasonable) and procedurally (eg, the employee selection is fair, and the termination should be a last resort). If the court finds the termination unfair, it is likely to order the employer to make unfair termination compensation, which is in addition to the statutory termination payments. The court is free to determine the amount as it deems appropriate (eg, it may base the amount on the employee’s one month of wages for each year of their service, or on something else). If the court determines that the employer has termi - nated the employee in bad faith (such as without valid reasons, or through bullying or retaliation), it may order a significant amount of unfair termination compensa - tion as a punitive measure against the employer. 8.2 Anti-Discrimination There is no specific legislation dealing with discrimina - tion in the workplace, but various legislation prohibits discrimination, including the following: The Constitution of Thailand This prohibits discrimination on the basis of place of birth, nationality, language, gender, age, physical or health condition, economic or social status, religious belief, education or training, or political ideology. The LPA Under the LPA, an employer shall treat male and female employees equally in employment, unless the description or nature of the work prevents such treatment. Furthermore, an employer must fix wages, overtime pay, holiday pay and holiday overtime pay at the same rate for male and female employees who undertake work of the same nature and quality, and an equal quantity or work of equal value.
An employer who violates these provisions shall be subject to a maximum fine of THB20,000. The injured employee may claim damages from the employer on the grounds of a wrongful act under the Civil and Commercial Code. Gender Equality Act B.E. 2558 (2015) Under the Gender Equality Act, any private organi - sation is prohibited from prescribing policies, ordi - nances, rules, notifications, measures, projects or practices that appear to discriminate unfairly based on gender. Unfair discrimination based on gender is defined under this law to cover the grounds that such a person is male or female or expresses themselves differently from their inborn gender, which is broader than the protection under the LPA. Unfair discrimination based on gender could result in an order issued by the competent committee requir - ing a person to comply with appropriate measures to cease and prevent the recurrence of unfair discrimina - tion based on gender and to pay compensation to the injured person. Moreover, the injured person may file a complaint to the court to claim compensation due to such discrimination, including punitive damages up to four times the actual damages. There is also other legislation dealing with discrimi - nation in some aspects regarding childcare and dis - ability. 8.3 Digitalisation The electronic method of consulting and filing labour claims is now available through the website of the labour court. Online procedures for witness trials and proceedings for the labour court are also available, subject to the agreement by the parties in the case and the court’s approval.
9. Dispute Resolution 9.1 Litigation
There is a specialised labour court, which has jurisdic - tion over labour disputes, with specific procedures for labour cases. There is no court fee, and no lawyer is required to file a case with the labour court. The court will try to reconcile the parties so they can reach a
680 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook