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Article

14 Sep 2019

Author:
Penchan Charoensuthipan, Bangkok Post

Thailand: Employers in border areas exploit law allowing short-term contracts to evade payment of benefits due to migrant workers

"Contract rule abused to cut costs: activist", 13 September 2019

A rights advocacy group is accusing employers in border areas of exploiting Section 64 of the executive decree on migrant workers to cut costs.

Section 64 of the decree allows employers in border areas to hire migrant workers for "seasonal jobs" without having to provide benefits accorded to other workers.

"Some of these employers would continuously renew these short-term seasonal work contracts instead of signing proper employment contracts [for the workers]," said Chonticha Tangworamongkon, a programme director with the Human Rights and Development Foundation.

...[C]ompanies began abusing the decree after the previous government cracked down on illegal labourers and introduced better welfare coverage to legally-registered migrant workers.

..."Exploiting the section means less labour costs for the employer, as they are not required under Section 64 to pay for social security levies and compensate workers in cases of accidents," said Ms Chonticha.