Over the past five years, not only the number of companies under the BOI investment promotion has significantly grown, but also the number of foreign expatriates working with those companies. It is clear that a work permit to be granted under the BOI investment promotion is one of the channels for a foreigner to stay and work in Thailand.

However, the fact is people, from time to time, change their employer due to many factors: job incentives, salary, position, etc.

To change employer from a BOI-promoted-company to another, the following steps are for an employee holding a work permit under BOI to take.

Step 1. Suitability and compatibility

Similar to applying for a work permit in the first place, for changing employer, such foreign employee must be well-suit for the new position in the new company with supporting biographic, education background, work experiences and qualifications.

Step 2. Approval of position in the Single Window System

Unless the company has an available approved position in their Single Window System, the company will have to get its new position to be approved by the BOI by uploading all required document as well as providing position details namely: position title, scope of work, qualification for the position and work duration, and so on, into the system.

Step 3. Removing the employee from the existing position

The current employer then has to remove the employee from the existing position as well as to cancel the current work permit and visa via the Single Window system. The work permit holder should make sure that the current employer will process the cancellation of his work permit and Visa in a way that it will take effect not less than 15 days from the day they submit the notification online. This way, the new employer will have enough time to process the new work permit.

Step 4. Application for the placement in to the new position with the new employer

Since the employee can use his/her existing Non-Immigrant “B” visa to get a new work permit under the BOI promoted business of the new employer, the process from this step will be similar to applying for a work permit under a BOI company the first time. Pursuant to the approval of the Step 3, the new employer will have to submit all necessary documents through the Single Window system (such as bio data form, a copy of passport and a copy of certificate of the employee, etc.

Step 5. One Stop Service Center and Digital Work Permit

Upon the approval of step 4, the employee will go to One-Stop Service Center to pick up his Work Permit and extend his Permit of Stay to a longer term.

The keys of the success of changing employers are timing and precision. If any of the steps falls behind the schedule or is done incorrectly, the employee’s visa will expire before the placement is done causing him to leave Thailand and, once again, to apply for a new Non-Immigration “B” visa. This is why you need an expert like MSNA Group to assist you with each step. Contact MSNA Group for your business needs in Thailand.

We have an inquiry from many clients of how to calculate overtime payment for monthly salaried employees. If you have not read our excerpt of Thailand Labor Law, please consider reading it first. Below is the answer and an example of how to calculate overtime payment.

The maximum number of working hours of employees is fixed by law at 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week in total. Most employers, however, set it at 8 hours a day and 5 days a week (so 40 hours a week). For work performed in excess of the maximum number of hours, which is fixed either by the company’s regulation or by specific employment agreement (if the latter is lower), the employee must be paid overtime compensation. The rates of overtime are:

– 1.5 times if the employee works outside of normal working hours on normal work days. 

– 2 times if the employee works during normal working hours on a holiday. However, in case of monthly salaried employees, the employer will pay only 1 time extra because his monthly salary has already covered 1 time when he does not work on the day.

– 3 times if the employee works outside of normal working hours on a holiday. 

Example: A company’s normal work hours is 8 AM to 5 PM with 1 hour lunch break in between, Monday to Friday. If an employee whose monthly salary is THB 24,000, works for an hour after 5 PM, then the overtime rate is 150% of his hourly rate. You need to use 30 days per month (even if a particular month has more or fewer than 30 days) and 8 hours per day to calculate his hourly rate. In our example, his hourly rate is 24,000/30/8 = THB 100.

If the same employee works on a Saturday during 8 AM to 5 PM with 1 hour lunch break, he will be paid an OT of THB 100 per hour for this day.

If this employee happens to work after 5 PM on a holiday, he will receive 3 times the normal hourly rate for this period of work which is 100 x 3 = THB 300 per hour.

Consult with our Thai Lawyers at MSNA Group for your business and labor law issues.

When the company moves its office, it has to register the change with the Department of Business Development. However, in case it is registered in the VAT system, it has to file Form PP09 to change the address with the Revenue Department at least 15 days before registering the change with the Department of Business Development. Failure to do so will result in a fine of a few thousand Baht.

Now to register the change of address with the DBD:

A. Registering the change of address within the same province can be done within one day. However, the preparation of the registration forms and related documents may take much longer.      

B. Registering a relocation to another province will result in an amendment of the section 2 “Location of the company’s office” of the company’s Memorandum of Association (MOA). The process will take roughly 20 days with the following steps

1. The MOA can be amended through the Extra Ordinary Shareholder’s Meeting.

2. To summon the meeting, the signatory director will have to send a letter calling for the meeting to shareholders not less than 14 days before the date of the meeting.

3. Once the meeting has been held and the relocation has been approved through the meeting resolution, the relocation can then be registered with the Office of Partnership and Company Registration.

The mentioned process is only for the registration of the relocation of company’s registered office with the Department of Business Development. You also have to notify the Social Security Office if you have been registered with it when you first had an employee. Contact MSNA Group for your business needs in Thailand.

On the side of employer:

1. Amount to pay the employee

– The employee is entitled to take Maternity Leave for a maximum of 98 days. So if she takes less than 98 days, it is fine.

– The employer will have to pay to the employee up to 45 days of wage. This means, if the employee takes 50 or 60 or 90 days of leave, the amount that the employer will have to pay is 45 days of wage anyway. On the other hand, if the employee takes less than 45 days of leave, the amount entitled to the employee shall base on the actual number of days of leave.

– In an event the wage is a monthly salary, one day of wage shall be equal to the amount of salary divided by 30.

2. Payment Term

– The payment shall be made on the date of regular payday. To make it clear please see the below example:

“The regular payday is on the 30th of each calendar month. The employee takes a 45-leave-day from the 23rd June 2019. At the end of June, the employer will have to separately pay a 23 days of wage for the work done by the employee and 7 days of wage for the Maternity Leave(from 24th to 30th).

By the 31st July 2019, a wage of 31 days shall be made to the employee and the rest of the wage of 8 days shall be paid on 30th August 2019.”

On the side of employee

The female employee can receive Child Delivery payment of THB 13,000 from the Social Security plus 50% of the 90 days’ wage, but the monthly salary cap for Social Security’s purpose is THB 15,000.

Let’s say if the monthly salary is THB 50,000, the cap allowed by the SSO is THB 15,000. The 90-day-wage shall be 15,000 x 3 = 45,000. So 50% of 45,000 is 22,500. Hence THB 22,500 shall be paid by SSO.

Contact MSNA Group for your business needs in Thailand

Corporate health insurance policies

We got a question from a client about corporate health insurance policies. Thailand has Social Security system.  The employer is required to deduct 5% (maximum Baht 750) from the employee’s salary and match the amount from their pocket and submit it to the Social Security Office. Social Security covers free medical treatment for most diseases at the hospital the employee chooses when he first joins the employer. Most companies in Thailand do not offer health insurance for their employees. However, some big companies do and they seem to be attractive employers to the job seekers.

In summary, it is not compulsory to purchase health insurance policies for your employees. Read more on Social Security and Workmen’s Compensation in Thailand.