Press Release: Large Electronics Manufacturer Ordered to Pay 822,250 THB to 21 Subcontracted Migrant Workers from Cambodia as Severance Pay

admin | January 10, 2020 | News | No Comments

Today (10 January 2020), 21 migrant workers from Cambodia have received in total the amount of 822,250 baht as a severance pay and a compensation in lieu of advance notice per the orders signed by the labor inspector on 2 December 2019. It has stemmed from that a subcontractor company which has recruited the workers and placed them for a public company limited in Pathumthani’s Navanakorn Industrial Zone and later the workers have been laid off and denied severance pay.

Late August 2019, the 21 migrant workers from Cambodia were laid off by their employer, a subcontractor company, without receiving severance pay and a compensation in lieu of advance notice as required by law. The subcontractor claimed the public company limited which is an electronic parts manufacturer in Navanakorn Industrial Zone wanted to “return” the workers to them due to a decline in their order. Meanwhile, the workers alleged that they were forced by the subcontractor to sign a resignation letter with the use of intimidation as the workers did not want to pay high fees for having to convert themselves into MOU workers. The Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) therefore assisted the workers to lodge their complaint with the Pathumthani Office of Labour Protection and Welfare.

In its orders no. 175/2562 and 176/2562 issued on 2 December 2019, the Labor Inspector of the Pathumthani Office of Labour Protection and Welfare issued states that;

  • The employer (the subcontractor company) is not legally allowed to place workers from Cambodia, Myanmar and Lao in workplaces via the subcontracted arrangement. Such placement of subcontracted workers is prohibited per the Notification of the Department of Employment issued invoking Section 36 of the Royal Ordinance on Bringing Alien Workers to Work with an Employer in the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2559.
  • The public company limited (name withheld) which is an electronic parts manufacturer had hired the subcontractor (name withheld) to send their workers to work in its plant. The public company, therefore, has legal relationship with the subcontractor per the subcontracting contract. To the extent that the subcontractor is deemed an employer of the subcontracted workers, the public company must also be deemed an employer of the workers as per Section 11/1 of the Labor Protection Act B.E. 2541. Both of them have to be held accountable for the severance pay, the compensation in lieu of advance notice and the incurred interest for the total amount of 822,250 baht as well.

HRDF deems that even though the labor inspector’s order is good news for the migrant workers in this particular case, it is not clear if the labor inspector is going to hold the subcontractor liable for legal punishment or not. The Royal Ordinance on Bringing Alien Workers to Work with an Employer in the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2559 prohibits the subcontracting of migrant workers, and any violator can punishable by both an imprisonment and a fine.

HRDF has found that subcontracting of migrant workers – an action prohibited by the law – is also prevalent in other industrial estates. Subcontracted workers are vulnerable to the violation of their fundamental rights including having their wage deducted for various reasons instituted by the subcontractor. The workers are usually forced to resign or are simply laid off without advance notice while not receiving severance pay. Although, they are required to arrange for MOU recruitment process, but they have been denied their rights according to the law. In this particular case, the subcontractor had continually deducted their wage claiming to be monthly contribution to the social security fund, but the amount has never been paid to the Social Security Fund. As a result, the subcontractor had already been fined by the Social Security Office for such breach following the workers’ complaints.

The questions that the Thai government should address are;

  1. What are the measures the state should put in place to ensure that subcontracted workers are protected and have access to the fundamental benefits provided for by international labor standards?
  2.  For migrant workers required by the state to undergo the MoU recruitment process within 31 March 2020, how can the government ensure that they will not be overcharged and only paid expenses required by law, and how to prevent subcontractors from illegally acting as their employers?
  3. The government must ensure that employers in various industrial estates, which tend to be large export companies, provide social protection to their employees and respect their labor rights and human rights in compliance with international standards, which is increasingly raised by buying countries as a condition in international trade.

For more information, please contact: [email protected]