A famous Bangkok lawyer has warned employers that it’s illegal to cut salary as punishment for an employees’ tardiness.
Everyone familiar with Thai customs knows that employees are often running on “Thai time,” meaning they’re always at least 10 minutes late. (Editor’s Note: We’re Thai, so we can actually say that, right?)
But Lawyer Rachapon Sirisakorn created a discussion that sparked a collective cheer this week, when he posted on Facebook that Thais can pursue legal action against employers who dock their pay for being late.
“Actually, the laws prevents employers from cutting pay willy-nilly — especially not because you’re late for work,” he wrote.
According to Section 76 of the Labor Protection Act, an employer cannot take any deductions from wages except when it comes to income taxes, labor union dues, corporate debts, certain insurance/compensation for damages caused or, finally, as contributions for things like for social security.
Rachapon warned that in eyes of the law, employers who violate that statute are subject to imprisonment of up to six months and/or a fine not exceeding THB100,000 (US$3,000)
The reality, however, is that pay deductions for late arrivals is a way of life at many large companies in Thailand — some of which have policies so strict they cut salary down to the specific number of minutes a worker is late. Seriously.
While many readers agreed with the law, saying that pay deductions are no way to fix tardiness, others point out the injustice done to employees who actually show up to work on time.
“How does it make sense to pay someone for a certain amount of hours when they didn’t work the amount of hours assigned?” reads one comment.
Others said that while their companies don’t deduct from their pay, they’ve seen colleagues who were constantly late fired. Fair enough.
