Protests against the Finance Ministry's new rules controlling government spending on temporary staff are increasing, with the Council of University Presidents complaining the rules constrain campus flexibility.
The council said the rules on employment of staff outside the fiscal 2018 budget affected employees of government-run universities, including campuses under Rajabhat University and Rajamangala University of Technology.
The rules should be lifted to restore universities' fiscal authority over their staff, because they already had plans and regulations to ensure transparency in employment, the council said on Thursday.
The new rules were blocking universities from delivering on the government's Thailand 4.0 strategy when it came to research and innovation, the statement said.
The response followed reaction from public health personnel who aired their protest against the new rules on Wednesday.
At the centre of the controversy are four Finance Ministry directives which recommend that state agencies avoid hiring of workers off-budget and prohibit pay hikes for temporary employees.
Temporary positions and hiring schemes which were in place before the regulations took effect on May 18 and were not earlier approved should not be renewed after the terms end, the directives say.
Temporary workers must be hired at minimum legal pay rates and on a fiscal yearly basis, or within a permitted period, and the Finance Ministry must be consulted first.