On September 23, 2020, Deputy Labour Minister Prof. Narumon Pinyosinwat provided information about employment and hourly employment to the Executive Director of the Thai Retailers Association Mr. Pattana Sutirakulchai, and the committee, who attended the event to congratulate her on appointment to Deputy Labour Minister. The meeting also discussed employment issues, whereby Advisor to the Deputy Labour Minister M.L. Puntrik Smiti, Deputy Permanent Secretary of Labour Ms. Aumpun Thuvavit, and the Ministry of Labour’s executives also participated in this discussion at the Prasong Rananant meeting room, 5th Floor, Ministry of Labour.
Deputy Labour Minister Prof. Narumonn Pinyosinwat said the Ministry of Labour has advocated supporting workers who have been laid off and unemployed by providing various forms of employment support, such as promoting liquidity for the private sector by adjusting to lower contribution rates. The Ministry of Labour has also organized a credit program to promote employment, provide organizations with working capital to enhance liquidity, and maintain continuous employment. It has also adjusted the ratio of training for employees according to the Skill Development Promotion Act 2002 from 50 percent to 10 percent, for example.
The Deputy Labour Minister further said that sustaining employment by the government includes providing employment services through projects and activities, following the Department of Employment’s mission. It has established a part-time employment service center to enable short-term employment. This will help reduce costs to business operators and alleviate people’s suffering affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the Ministry of Labour has launched projects to achieve short-term employment by hiring those affected to work in government agencies. It has also organized projects on skill development, with an allowance during training. More recently, the Job Expo Thailand 2020 will be held from September 26-28, 2020, at Bitec Bangna, with over one million vacancies.
Executive Director of the Thai Retailers Association Mr. Pattana Sutirakulchai, said that the current employment situation has contracted. There are over 37.1 million employed workers. Professions with decreased employment were construction, hotels/restaurants, wholesale-retail, which decreased slightly, and shipping/storage, which grew slightly, as a result of the measures and campaigns to stay at home and prevent the Covid-19 pandemic from spreading. The measures have resulted in 58.7 percent of formal workers’ unemployment to become informal workers due to business closures.
Although retailers were not very affected by the situation, to support employment, the Thai Retailer Association requested to discuss support in this discussion, which included the General Manager of CP All, representatives from Makro, BBQPLAZA, Central Group, Home Pro, and Tesco Lotus. The Thai Retailer Association requested support in several issues, such as the ratio of employment of people with disabilities from 100: 1 to 200: 1, extending the waiver period to replace people with disabilities from the previous 45-day timeframe, to be within 60 days. The group also asked for tax deductions for the employment of the elderly, to over 15,000 Baht, certified training courses in an online format, adjust training courses related to food to be consistent and integrated with the Department of Health, and reduced payment of contributions to the social security fund for the employment of new graduates.
Hourly employment is the requirement to hire on an hourly basis. The Ministry of Labour may determine the type or nature of work that can be hired on an hourly basis, including setting the proportion of hourly employment to support employment. This is because some workers want to work hourly, such as those who already have regular jobs but want to have a career or extra income, such as housewives and students.
“The Ministry of Labour would like to consider the request, which is under the authority of the Wages Committee, which will bring relevant information and details to formulate operational guidelines and continue to provide support. Hourly employment will increase employment channels following the changing working situation, and encourage workers to have more opportunities to work and reduce costs to employers. However, the Ministry of Labour must consider appropriate protection and labour related laws to support the new normal that impacts the system. For the request today, many parties are involved and will have a joint discussion to help push for a solution providing mutual benefits for both parties,” the Deputy Labour Minister concluded.
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Division of Public Relations
23 September 2020
