Employers will face jail time and a hefty fine if they force employees to work on their days off, the Department of Labor Protection and Welfare warned yesterday.
In an online statement, Director Ananchai Uthaipattanacjeep reminded employers to act in accordance with the Labor Law, stressing that it’s illegal to make employers work on days off if they don’t want to.
Mmm hmm. Solid advice that really no one can disagree with, even if it is seemingly coming from out of the blue.
Ananchai went on to conceded that employees can, of course, choose to work on their days off — on a case by case basis, adding that it’s mandatory that they receive the same — or higher — wages they usually earn. Right. Again, wonderful sentiment.
Considering the fact that many companies don’t even pay workers overtime, perhaps it’s no surprise that the stern warning drew some derision on social media, where folks seemed to think it bore little relation to the realities of the Thai workplace.
“Who said employers force you to work? They simply ask for your cooperation to work. They’d be like ‘You don’t have to come but that will affect your annual review’,” said one netizen whose comment was quickly liked more than 100 times.
Others simply said that while no one will order you to work on weekends, they’ll simply tell you “hey, the deadline is Monday.”
Ananchai said that employers who violate the law will face up to six months in prison and/ or a fine of THB100,000 maximum.
We wait with bated breath to see this take effect.
