The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) yesterday voted unanimously to pass draft amendments to the 1998 Labour Protection Act aimed at improving job opportunities and labour rights protection for the elderly and disabled workers.
The bill sailed through its second and final readings yesterday, said Gen Singsuek Singphrai, chairman of the NLA committee vetting the bill. The bill will soon be enacted into law, he said.
Among the amendments to the act was Section 87 which now incorporates a clause stipulating the powers of the committee specifying minimum wage rates for specific types of workers such as students working part-time, and elderly and disabled workers, said Gen Singsuek.
The main purpose of this change is to promote the employment of these groups of people and to improve the protection of their labour rights, he said.
Sections 108 and 110 of the act were also amended to help ease the burden on employers in having to submit to the director-generals of concerned departments a copy of the regulations regarding working conditions for these workers, he said.
Section 118/1 of the act was also amended to make a clause about mandatory retirement and the payment of financial compensations in case of retirement clearer, he said.
Section 144 of the same law was also amended to impose penalties on employers failing to pay retirement compensation to their employees, he said.
Speaking when the amendment bill passed its first reading on April 5, Labour Minister Gen Sirichai Distakul said the minimum wage rate for these special groups of workers was set at 40 baht per hour which doesn't conflict with the part of the law concerning the daily minimum wage, which is currently 300 baht.
He was referring to workers whom he said possibly have different working conditions to ordinary workers.
As for people retiring, the amendments will allow them to either continue working after reaching the retirement age of 60, or to retire and request their retirement benefits as specified in certain laws including this law and the social security law.
If an employee chooses to retire at 60, the employer must respond to the employee's request for retirement benefits within 30 days, Gen Sirichai said.