Job Announcement: Legal Representation

Background to the Project

Thailand has been attracting low-skilled migrants from neighbouring countries for decades.  It hosts approximately 3.9 million documented and undocumented migrant workers from Cambodia, Laos, Viet Nam, and Myanmar. In this regard, it is assumed that 80% of them are Myanmar migrants. Tak province, is a common destination for Myanmar migrants due to flexibility of border management and the impact of Special Economic Zone (SEZ) that create high demand of labour as well as the growth of agricultural sector. In Mae Sot, there are over 300 manufacturing factories locating in the district and it is seen as a pull-factor for migrants to come and seek better economic opportunities. However, migrant workers in the target areas, especially those work in agriculture sector encountered with different forms of exploitation and human rights violations, such as unpaid wages, document confiscation, prohibited from leaving their workplace, and police raids and threats. Migrants also reported experiencing verbal abuse and discrimination by employers based on their sex and nationality. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a wide range of risks already posed on migrant workers in Thailand. The pandemic is a magnifier of existing risks for migrant workers.  Poor living and working conditions, exploitative wages, migration-related debt and lack of gender-responsive labour protection mechanism all existed prior to the pandemic, but their negative effects are compounded by this unprecedented health and economic crisis. The pandemic has further exacerbated these vulnerabilities.  A recent assessment conducted by IOM from August to October 2022 found that migrant workers in Mae Sot, Tak Province are more vulnerable compared to workers in other four provinces surveyed. Lack of documentation was most prevalent in Tak (51%) followed by Ranong (16%). Employment levels were much lower among Myanmar migrant workers in Tak, with 36% of respondents reporting no work in the year prior compared 21% in Ranong. A majority (87%) of Myanmar nationals who worked throughout the year reported lacking an employer agreement defining their length of employment, working hours, wages, and entitlements.  Working without an agreement was most common in Tak (97%). Only 23% in Tak earning at least 315 THB per day compared to 76% in Ranong.  Respondents who travelled to Thailand for employment reasons paid an average of 4,700 THB (130 USD) per household member for migration cost. On top of migration cost, they have to pay high cost to get or renew their documentation, which is around 7,700 THB (210 USD) on average. In Mae Sot, the research conducted by Mekong Migration Network (MMN) found that the typical daily wage of a migrant agricultural workers was just THB120-150 (USD3.95-4.95) and the work was available only intermittently.  On this sub-minimum wage income it is extremely difficult for migrant agricultural workers to afford the thousands of baht required by the formal migration pathways (MMN, 2020). A combination of high migration and documentation cost while receiving below the minimum wage has created greater inequality and poverty.  Male respondents were recorded earning minimum wage or higher more commonly than female respondents (80% and 65%, respectively) according to the above assessment conducted by IOM. The gender pay gap is seen as a discriminatory method using against women workers whereas their contribution in Thailand economic growth is remarkable.

This proposed action aims at addressing these issues by building on effective results from the previous EU-funding project called “CSO Development for the Promotion and Advancement of Migrant Rights” (CSO DPAMR) such as Factory Model Initiative, CSOs capacity development for migrant rights advocacy, legal assistance, and tripartite collaboration to address the issues related to labour/human rights violations. Significantly, the initiatives developed in this action, such as building capacities of the Mae Sot based actors (Federation of Thai Industries-FTI, Labour Protection Office-LPO, and Safety Officer Club-SOC) to improve workplace safety, strengthen capacities of CSO/CBOs working on legal protection, supporting Migrant Rights Promotion Working Group (MRPWG) to advance the existing advocacy roadmap, and continue working with the Migrant Worker Assistance Centre (MWAC) in Mae Sot will be utilized to achieve the project goal.

Overall Objective: To  promote and protect labour rights and promote safe working environment for vulnerable migrant workers in and around Mae Sot District, Tak, Thailand, for decent work and economic growth. Specific objective: (1) To increase private sector compliance of labour/human rights standards in and around Mae Sot District, Tak, Thailand; (2) To strengthen local CSOs’ effectiveness for the advancement of migrant workers’ labour/human rights.  

Expected outputs

1. Increased awareness of duty bearers and target employers about migrant labour/human rights;
2. Strengthened capacities on labour laws and measures addressing access to legal protection of migrant workers from Mae Sot area against unfair labour practices
3. Enhanced CSOs knowledge and skills for the effective advocacy in migrant rights.
4. Enhanced opportunities for dialogue and collaboration among duty bearers, CSOs, and private sector for the improvement of the protection of labour rights for migrant workers.

Key Tasks of the Lead Consultant or Consulting Team

The individual consultant or the consulting team will undertake the following activities in order to provide legal representation to up 75  migrant workers in a court case:

• Develop litigation strategies to assist migrant workers in Maesot to secure their fundamental labout rights and protections and benefits under the labour laws.
• Prepare legal documents for a lawsuit
• File a lawsuit to appeal of the labour inspector’s order and represent workers as legal counsel in the labor court
• Compile a report on the lawsuit for HRDF

Timeframe of the Consultancy

A total of 27 payable working days is planned for this consultancy:

• 2 days of developing litigation strategies and design work plan.
• 10 days of preparing legal documents.
• 5 days of preparing for court proceeding with clients in the field.
• 10 days of representing migrant workers in the court.          

Products Expected from the Consultancy

The consultant (and team) will complete the lawsuit as legal counsel for the abovementioned migrant workers and provide HRDF with a case report for monitoring the progress of court case.  

Background of the Consultant

• At least 10 years’ experience as a lawyer or legal consultant.
• Experience in working with migrant communities would be beneficial
• Experience in conducting labour protection cases.
• Consultant is preferred to be based in Mae Sot

Submission of Application

• Applications should be submitted no later than 10 May 2024.
• Applications in the English or Thai language, including i) a resume of not more than 3 pages; ii) a cover letter; iii) a brief proposal to describe how this consultancy will be carried out; iv) contact details of 2 references should be submitted by email to [email protected] and cc [email protected]  
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.