Labour disputes in Thailand.
Ending the contract without any cause.
In case the employment agreement was concluded for a fixed period of time, the agreement will take an end at that date automatically. If the agreement is applicable for an indefinite amount of time, both the employer and employee can end the employment agreement at any time if a term of notice and severance pay are taken into account and provided that the process is fair and clear. These are both examples of a fair dismissal.
On the other hand, the following situations can be considered as a wrongful dismissal:
The immediate dismissal without a clear and full explanation of the reason or the termination of the agreement without serious cause nor severance pay- The termination of the agreement without payment of the unused annual leave
- The termination of the agreement based on the (claimed) violation of the work regulations by the employee without any prior warning
Should the employer be found guilty of violating the Labour Protection Act, they risk a fine between 5,000 and 200,000 THB and/or imprisonment of up to one year. Many times, wrongful dismissal can be prevented by following the standard procedures, including giving an appropriate term of notice, awarding severance pay or dismissing an employee with a valid cause (to find out more information about wrongful dismissal, read our article here).
