Enactment of Working from Home Law in Thailand

Thai employers have adopted a new practice, in which they allow or request employees to work from home or work remotely, ever since the COVID-19 lockdown. In such regard, Thailand has finally enacted a law to protect the employee’s rights in this new normal working practice. The Labour Protection Act (No. 8) BE 2566 (2023) was published in the royal Gazette on 18 March 2023, which amends the Labour Protection Act BE 2541(1998) (the “LPA”) by adding a new Section 23/1; this sets out, among other things, the ‘right to be disconnected’ of the employee as well as the necessary elements that must be agreed upon between the employer and the employee in working from home or remotely. Section 23/1 of the LPA will be effective as of 18 April 2023.

The official Section 23/1 of the LPA is no different from the draft Section 23/1 of the LPA, as passed by the Thai Parliament on 28 December 2022. The unofficial English translation of Section 23/1 of the LPA reads as follows:

“For the benefit of the employer’s business operation and to promote quality of life and work performance of the employee, or in the case where it is necessary, the employer and the employee may agree that the employee can bring the work in the course of employment or that which is agreed with the employer — having the nature or description whereby the employee may perform such work conveniently outside the employer’s establishment or premises — to perform such work at his/her home or residence, or agree that the employer may perform the work through use of information technology from elsewhere remotely.

The employer must make the agreement in paragraph 1 above in writing or electronically, as well as make it accessible and retrievable without causing any change to its content, and may include the following particulars:

(1)    Commencement and end of the term of agreement;
(2)    Normal working days and hours, rest periods and overtime work;
(3)    Criteria for overtime work, holiday work and leave;
(4)    Scope of the employee’s responsibility and the employer’s control or supervision; and
(5)    Responsibility for arranging work supplies and equipment, including other necessary expenses arising from the work.

Once the normal working hours as agreed by the employer and the employee have ended or the work assigned by the employer has been completed, the employee has a right to refuse contact and communication from the employer, superior, supervisor or inspector in any way, unless the employer gives his/her prior consent (to be contacted outside of working hours) in writing.

The employee working from home or working via information technology from elsewhere remotely has the same right as the employee working at the employer’s establishment/premises”.  

As pointed out in our article on the Amendment to the Labour Protection Act to Include Work from Home, we reinstated the key takeaways of this new Section 23/1 of the LPA, as follows: 

1)    Thai labour law does not prohibit or set out strict restrictions on remote working. Rather, it recognises that remote working could be arranged for the benefit of the employer’s business operation and to promote quality of life and work performance of the employee, or in a case where it is necessary. 
2)    Remote working is subject to an agreement between the employer and the employee. Moreover, the law sets out that there are at least five points (i.e. term of an agreement, working hours, overtime work, expenses, scope of responsibilities and supervision) that should be agreed with the employee.  The said agreement must be made in writing or electronically, and be fully accessible and retrievable without causing any change to its content.
3)    Related expenses from remote working are likewise subject to an agreement between the employer and the employee . The law does not prescribe that it is an employer’s obligation to pay the employee’s electricity or internet bill when he/she is working remotely from the employer’s establishment/premises. 
4)    The employer has the ‘right to be disconnected’. Therefore, the employee can refuse contact and communication outside working hours from the employer, superior, supervisor or inspector in any way. However, it further provides that the employee could give his/her prior consent to be contacted by the employer, superior, supervisor or inspector.
5)    More importantly, the employee who is working remotely has the same right as the employee working at the employer’s establishment/premises. 
6)    Despite the above legal issues, the LPA does not yet include any punishment for the employer violating this new Section 23/1 of the LPA. 

In the future, we may expect to see the Thai Government create more obligations on the employer in order to better protect the employee from this new working model.

This is intended merely to provide a regulatory overview and not to be comprehensive; it is NOT a provision of legal advice. Should you have any questions on this or on other areas of law, please do not hesitate to contact the following:

Chanakarn Boonyasith
Partner

Pitchabsorn Whangruammit
Associate(Attorney-at-Law)

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