Press Release: 39 Myanmar migrant workers reaching a settlement agreement with Wandi Tuna Part Ltd in Ranong regarding the case filed for failure to act in compliance with the labour inspector’s order of Ranong Provincial Office of Labour Protection and Welfare and the refusal to provide compensation and severance pay in lieu of advance notice
For immediate release on 24 December 2021
Press Release
39 Myanmar migrant workers reaching a settlement agreement with Wandi Tuna Part Ltd in Ranong regarding the case filed for failure to act in compliance with the labour inspector’s order of Ranong Provincial Office of Labour Protection and Welfare and the refusal to provide compensation and severance pay in lieu of advance notice
On 13 December 2021, attorneys of the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF), with authorization from the plaintiffs including the 39 Myanmar migrant workers, have reached a settlement agreement with the Wandi Tuna Part Ltd, defendant no. 1 and others, altogether three at the Phuket Provincial Court Region 8. The defendants agree to pay the 39 workers the amount of 1,814,595 baht, or 70% of the damages and it shall be paid in 24 installments each at 75,608 baht.
The case stems from that the Wandi Tuna Part., Ltd. which operate seafood processing business in Ranong has laid off 130 workers including the 39 migrant workers who are plaintiffs in this case claiming the impact from economic crisis and the necessity to cut down expenses to maintain its operation. Among those laid off were the 39 migrant workers who were denied compensation and severance pay in lieu of advance notice
The Ranong Provincial Office of Labour Protection and Welfare’s labour inspector has thus ordered the employer to pay 320,879 baht for a compensation in lieu of advance notice and 2,271,400 baht for severance pay, altogether 2,592,279 baht plus interest at 15% per annum until all the outstanding debt is serviced as a result of the termination of employment of the plaintiffs. (For more detail, please see http://hrdfoundation.org/?p=2671 )
On 29 October 2021, HRDF’s attorneys, with authorization from the plaintiffs including the 39 Myanmar migrant workers, have filed the case against the Wandi Tuna Part Ltd, defendant no. 1 and others, altogether three at the Phuket Provincial Court Region 8, to force it to act in compliance with the labour inspector’s order.
A mediation session was conducted at the Phuket Provincial Court Region 8 on 13 December 2021, and both the plaintiffs and the defendants have reached a settlement agreement whereby the three defendants agreed to pay the 39 plaintiffs the amount of 1,814,595 baht, although it will be paid in 24 installments each at 75,608 baht. The first installment shall be paid within 28 March 2022 and the next one on the 28th of each of every further month. If the three defendants fail to honor the payment requirement even one time, the 39 plaintiffs can seek a judicial order to have a legal execution for the payment of the total damages immediately plus the 5% interest rate per annum from the day following the failure to honor the payment due date.
This case affirms the right of migrant workers regardless if they are daily on monthly paid workers. They are entitled to the severance pay and the special pay in lieu of advance notice, if their employments have been terminated not due to gross misdemeanor of the employees as prescribed in Sections 17 and 112 of the Labour Protection Act BE 2541 (1998).
For more information, please contact:
Mr. Kridsada Sanyadi, attorney
Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF)
Phone: 099 419 4699 E-mail: [email protected]