The Ministry of Labour’s spokesperson said the Ministry of Labour continues to adjust the benefits to compensate for employees’ 98 days of maternity leave. The Social Security Office and employers are responsible for paying half of their wages each.
The Ministry of Labour’s Spokesperson (on politics), Mrs. Theanrat Nawamawat, revealed that Ms. Wanwipha Maison, a member of the list of MPs for the Future Forward Party, had spoken in a panel discussion on the topic of ‘old fathers, sick mothers, and young children; overlooking problems that hinder women’s career progression. The session was organized by the Think Forward Center on International Women’s Day on March 8th. She said that in 29 years, nothing has changed and that “International Women’s Day” calls for an increase in maternity leave. The facts in this matter concerning the right to take maternity leave, although the entitlement has increased from 90 to 98 days, employees still have concerns about whether they will be paid for the eight additional days of leave or not. However, the Ministry of Labour recognizes the importance of this. Initially, they clarified that the employer is obliged to pay wages throughout the employee’s leave with the current law, but not more than 45 days. The employee is still entitled to receive compensation from the Social Security Office for another 50 percent of the average wage for 90 days. Thus, it can be seen that for the additional eight days of leave, employees are not covered for wages.
Mrs. Thienrat said that in this regard, the Ministry of Labour’s Social Security Office has proposed to amend the law to increase rights for employees. It will increase the compensation benefit for insured persons from 50 percent of the average 90 days wage to 50 percent of the 98-day average wage. This will result in the employee receiving additional wages from the original rights leave by another four days. As for the wages on maternity leave for another four days, the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare considered the matter by the Legal Assessment Working Group to modify The Labour Protection Act, B.E. 2541 (1998), to increase rights for employees further. In the part of Convention No. 87 and 98, the draft Labour Relations Act B.E. … and the State Enterprise Labour Relations Act B.E. … are currently under consideration. During the consideration of the Council of State, it is expected that the Council of Ministers will enter the Cabinet in May 2022, and the Council will continue after that, which will lead to the process of adopting the Convention.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Division of Public Relations
9 March 2022
