IBC泰國法律金融會計事務所International Business Consultancy

Thai Employers Should Have COVID-19 Regulations at Work

泰國雇主需有COVID-19工作規定

If an employee comes back from COVID-19 risk area and does not self-quarantine or refuse to undertake COVID test but insist to go to work, what should the employer do?

如果員工從COVID-19風險區返回工作岡位，未進行自我隔離、或接受COVID檢驗，但堅持來上班，雇主該怎麼做？

1. Firstly, the employers must issue announcements or regulations about COVID-19, having the context that “any employee who has been to the risk area must follow public health’s laws or quarantine, or to undertake disease screening test”, following by a context “If an employee does not comply with the above statement, it will be considered as a serious violation of announcements or regulations and may bring to disemployment." The announcements or regulations are supported by Section 6, Second paragraph under Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Act B.E. 2011 (2011), which indicated that "The employees shall cooperate with the employer in the execution and promotion of occupational safety, health and environment in order to ensure safety to the employee and the establishment."

首先，雇主須發布有關COVID-19的公告或規定，內文為“任何曾待在風險區域的員工必須遵守公共衛生的法律或檢疫，或進行疾病篩查測試”，並且規定“如果員工不遵守上述規定，將被視為嚴重違反公告或規定，並可能會被開除”。佛曆2554年(西元2011) 《泰國職業安全衛生與環境法》，第6條第2段也有相關規定，僱員有義務向企業和員工提供並維護安全衛生的工作條件以及環境。

The announcements or regulations are supported by Section 6 under Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Act B.E. 2554 (2011), which indicated that “an employer is obligated to provide and keep its company and employees in safe and hygienic working conditions and environment.”[1]

佛曆2554年(西元2011)《泰國職業安全衛生與環境法》，第6條，也有相關規定，雇主有義務向企業和員工提供並維持安全衛生的工作條件和環境。

If an employer violates such regulation, he/she will be fined not more than 200,000 baht and/or not more than 6 months in prison.[2]

如雇主違反此規定，會被罰不超過200,000泰銖罰款及/或不超過6個月的徒刑。

2. Whenever an employer discovers that an employee violates the regulations, the employer can disemploy the employee immediately without severance pay according to Article 119(4) under Labor Protection Act. [3]

只要雇主發現員工違反規定，可根據《泰國勞動保護法》第119（4）條規定立即解僱該員工而無需支付資遣費。

3. In addition, can an employer prohibit an employee from entering the company or office? It is believed that an employer can do that because it is a prevention of dangers which may happen to an employee and such dangers may cause damages to employers’ property and health of their colleagues.

另外雇主可以禁止員工進公司或辦公室嗎？普遍認為雇主可以這樣做，因為這是為了防止可能發生在員工身上的危險，且此危險可能會損害雇主的財產和同事的健康。

Moreover, if an employee outrageously insists on entering the office even though he knows that he went to risk area and this may disobey the employer’s regulations and order, it may be considered as an "intentionally causing damage to the employer" case as well. This will be another reason for an employer disemploying an employee without severance pay, according to Article 119(2) under Labor Protection Act.[4]

此外，如果員工儘管知道自己曾去過風險區而仍然大膽地堅持進辦公室，且會違反雇主的規章制度，這也可能被視為“故意對雇主造成損害”。根據《泰國勞動保護法》第119（2）條，這是雇主解僱員工而不需支付資遣費的另一個原因。

The important thing in this article is that an employer should make sure that he/she has already issued above-mentioned regulations. If not, please try to proceed instantly in order to avoid dispute.

這篇文章的重要是，雇主應確認已發布上述規定。如果還沒有，請嘗試立即進行，以免引起爭議。

Nevertheless, in this case, even though there are no regulations or orders fixed, the employer still can disemploy the employee based on Article 119 under Labor Protection Act.

無論如何，在這種情況下，即使沒有相關規定或命令，雇主仍然可以根據《泰國勞動保護法》第119條解僱員工。

IBC Firm is formed by highly talented and progressive lawyers, financial advisors and accountants. Our partners were all graduated from well-known universities in Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Japan. Our alliance firms include firms in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, America, Australia, France and South Africa, majoring in law, finance, investment, taxation and accounting, fluent in Chinese, Thai, English and Japanese. Our lawyer is also the legal advisor from Taipei Economic and Culture Office in Thailand (“TECO”).

IBC 泰國法律金融會計事務所是由具才華且傑出的律師、財務顧問和會計師組成，本所合夥人畢業於泰國、英國、美國、澳洲、日本知名大學，結盟的事務所遍及台灣、日本、新加坡、美國、澳洲、法國、南非等。所學專業為法律、金融、投資、稅務及會計，精通中文、泰文、英文及日文。本所律師也是駐泰代表處義務諮詢律師。