Formichella & Sritawat - Thai Labour Law: Time Off, Working Hours & Equal Treatment

When navigating employment in Thailand, companies must give careful attention to time-off entitlements, working hours and special regimes for hazardous duties. Under the Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541 (“Labour Act”) and related regulations, a Thai employer has clear obligations, and best practice matters. Below is a structured overview of key issues, what employers should know, and some practical tips.

Public holidays and selecting the days off

Under Section 29 of the Labour Act, an employer must announce at least 13 holidays per year, including National Labour Day (1 May).  In practice, the Ministry publishes a Ministerial Regulation or notification each year setting out the official holidays that qualify.  The government will follow their own set of holidays that companies are not required to follow.

As of 2019, there are 19 holdays to choose the mandated 13 from. What this means:

• The minimum is 13 paid holidays. Many companies will announce more and include certain additional days such as Christmas Day, which isn’t publicly celebrated in Thailand.
• A best-practice approach is to align the company holiday calendar with the lists published by the Bank of Thailand and the Stock Exchange of Thailand. These offer transparent, annually-published lists of bank/financial market holidays.
• Companies should be aware that certain government agencies may recognize other holidays for example, immigration closes for Royal Ploughing Ceremony Day (วันพืชมงคล). While traditionally a civil servant and state enterprise holiday, and banks and most companies do not observe it.
• The Thai government often announces extra ad-hoc holidays each year via cabinet resolutions, but private employers are not required to follow them; adopting these additional days is entirely at the company's discretion as long as the Section 29 minimum of 13 holidays is met.
• Thus: when drafting your time-off policy or holiday roster, adopt a core holiday list (following the Bank of Thailand), and that extra days will be considered but will follow the Bank of Thailand holiday list.

• Employers must announce and display the annual holiday list in the workplace, ensuring all employees are clearly informed of the official holidays in advance.

   

Weekly day off, working hours and rest breaks

Under Thai law, the following rules apply:

• A weekly holiday: the employer must provide at least one day off per week; the interval between weekly rest days may not exceed six days.
• Normal working hours (for regular or office work) is up to 8 hours per day, and up to 48 hours per week.
• For work which “may be harmful to the health or safety of the employee” (as defined by Ministerial Regulations), is up to 7 hours per day, and up to 42 hours per week.
• Rest break during a working day: after five consecutive hours of work, the employer must provide a rest period of not less than one hour. The employer and employee may agree to shorter intervals of rest, but the total break time per day still cannot be less than one hour.

• For Overtime, work performed beyond normal working hours may qualify as payable overtime, but it is at the employee’s discretion, except in limited emergency situations. In practice, salaried employees may be expected to work beyond standard hours to complete their duties, though overtime compensation rules still apply.

   

Practical implications for Employers:

• When setting the standard working week for your business, you can use the 8-hour/48-hour benchmark unless your operations fall into the hazardous-work category.
• For hazardous operations you must apply the stricter 7/42 rule.
• Make sure your work rules specify what constitutes a weekly holiday or rest day, and ensure your scheduling avoids an interval longer than 6 consecutive working days without a rest day.
• Workers who work more than five hours continuously get at least one hour’s break (which should not be counted as working time).

• Contracts, employment handbooks and internal policies should reflect these limits and ensure overtime, work on holidays, etc., are handled properly. Section 24 and 25 of the Labour Act set out the rules for overtime and work on holidays.

   

Dangerous/hazardous professions: reduced hours

One of the important distinctions under the Labour Act is that where work “may be harmful to the health or safety” of employees under Ministerial Regulations, the maximum working hours are reduced from 8 hours per day to 7. Section 23 of the Labour Act reads: “Where the work may be hazardous… the normal working hours shall not exceed seven hours per day and the total working time per week shall not exceed forty-two hours.”

Although the exact list of hazardous work is prescribed by Ministerial Regulation, typical examples of such work include:

• Mining or construction underground, underwater, in a cave or tunnel.
• Work on platforms 10 metres or more above the ground.
• Production or transport of explosive or inflammable material.

• Metal smelting, casting or rolling; metal pressing; work with heat, cold, vibration, noise or light of an abnormal level; work involving hazardous chemical substances or poisonous microorganisms.

   

Equal treatment of women and permitted professions

The Labour Act sets out clear protections for female employees and prescribes certain restrictions. At the same time, the broader Gender Equality Act B.E. 2558 prohibits gender-based discrimination (including at work) and mandates equal pay for equal work.

Key points for female employees under the Labour Act:

• Section 15: “An employer shall treat male and female employees equally in their employment, unless the nature or conditions of the work does not allow the employer to do so.”
• Section 38: A female employee shall not be required by the employer to do certain kinds of work, including mining or underground/under-water work, working on scaffolding 10 metres or more above the ground, producing or transporting explosive or inflammable materials, or other work prescribed in ministerial regulations.
• Section 39: A pregnant female employee shall not be required to work between 22.00 and 06.00 (in most cases), not to work overtime or on a holiday, and not to perform certain work (involving vibrating machinery or engines; driving or being in a vehicle; lifting/carrying loads exceeding 15 kg; working in a boat) except where exceptions under regulations apply.
• Employers should review where roles are  “male only” or “female only”  as this may be discriminatory unless legitimately tied to job-nature (e.g., safety, health, pregnancy risk).
• For roles falling into the prohibited list under Section 38/39: female employees must not be placed into those roles and pregnant female employees must be accommodated as required.

• Where pregnant employees are involved, consider redesigning duties, adjusting hours, granting alternative duties, or giving non-hazardous assignments in line with the law.

   

Conclusion: best practice checklist for companies

To put this into a practical and easy to follow checklist:

1. Prepare and post a Holiday Calendar: adopt the Bank of Thailand lists and allow for additional holidays.
2. Publish the calendar in advance, and ensure employees know which days are company holidays.
3. Set standard working hours at 8 hrs/day, 48 hrs/week unless your work is in a hazardous category, in which case switch to 7/42.
4. Identify hazardous operations, classify them, and apply the stricter hours and safety regime.
5. Ensure at least 1 day off per week and do not exceed six consecutive working days.
6. Provide rest breaks of at least one hour after five hours of work.
7. Review job roles and ensure female employees are treated equally without discrimination however employers must comply with the restricted-work list for female and especially pregnant employees.

With these steps in place, employers can ensure that they are compliant with Thai labour laws and also present to employees a clear, fair and transparent time-off and working-hours policy aligned with both legal minimums and modern employment best-practice. For reference, the Bank of Thailand list of holidays are: https://www.bot.or.th/en/financial-institutions-holiday.html