1. There is a fund called “Labor Welfare Fund” organized in the Labor Protection and Social
Welfare Department with the objective of aiding employees in case of termination of employment, death or any other incident as prescribed by the Committee on Labor Welfare.
2. This Fund obtains money from many different sources, namely: the money deducted from employee’s wages, the money contributed by employers, the money of a deceased employee with no one receiving it, penalized money in case the employer fails deliver the funding money, the fined money paid by violators of labor law, contribution by an individual, contribution by the State, other income and the interest of the Fund.
3. The said Fund shall be put in two books of account:
3.1 The Funding account indicating particulars of the money deducted from employee’s wages, the money contributed by the employer, and the interest yielded by the fund for each individual employee, and
3.2 The account of common money indicating the particulars of other moneys besides 3.1
4. The delivery of the fined money to the Fund shall be prescribed by the Committee, which will be announced in the Government Gazette.
5. The money and all other properties belong to The Labor Protection and Social Welfare Department, and they shall not be delivered to the State Treasury.
6. The Labor Welfare Fund Committee shall consist of the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare as chairman, a representative of Ministry of Finance, a representative of the Office of National Economic and Social Development, a representative of the Bank of Thailand, and 5 representatives from the employees’ side and another 5 from the employer’s side, as committee members, and the Director – General of Labor Welfare Development as a member and the secretary of the Committee.
7.The said Committee is empowered to law down the policy of administering the Fund and paying it to the persons entitled to receive it with the approval of the Minister, to propose its opinion to the Minister to enact by – laws, prescribing rules for receiving and dispensing money as well as the custody of the Fund, setting aside not more than 10% of the Fund’s interest for the expenditure on administration and other activities prescribed by law including those entrusted by Minister.
8. The selection of representatives of employees and those of employers, their term of office and the termination of their term are the same as those prescribed for the Committee on Wages.
. Membership of Fund
1. Employees of a business with 10 or more in number shall have to become member of the Fund except those who have been members of a Life Supporting Fund or and other like welfare fund under the Ministerial Regulation concerned. As for a business having employees of less than 10 in number, its employees may become members of the Fund in accordance with the requirements prescribed by the Royal Decree concerned.
As for the business not required by law, its employees may apply for membership of the Fund in accordance with the rules set up by the Committee and with the approval of their employer.
2. The employer whose employees are members of the Fund shall have to submit the employee’s name list to authority for which the Department of Labor Welfare shall issue certificates of registration. If there is any subsequent change, the employer shall have to notify the Department and apply for amendment to the list according to the rules prescribed for that.
3. The employer shall have to withhold part of the wages of his or her employees according to the Ministerial Regulation concerned which shall not exceed 5% of the sum of employee’s wages, and the employer shall contribute an equal amount and deliver the combined amount to the Fund. Even if the employer fails to pay wages to his employees, he still has to deliver the sum of money to the Fund. Failing to do so, he is obliged to pay an extra sum of 5% per month of the sum to be delivered. The balance of 15 days or more is regarded as one month. The delivery of the money shall be in accordance with the rule prescribed by the Committee.
4. The labor inspector concerned shall warn the employer who fails to deliver the contributing money or delivers only in part. He is also empowered to assess the amount of a contributing money which is not ascertainable.
Note
This Welfare Fund is like the Social Security Fund existing before the enforcement of this law, but they are not the same. Do mot mix then up. The Social Security Welfare Fund is just like social insurance, while this Welfare Fund is like Pension Welfare Fund of Government officials. Both are comparatively good. If any employer not wishing to abide by this law, he or she may organize the so – called Life Supporting Fund before this law comes into force.
. payment of Welfare Fund
1. In case of retirement, the Department of Labor Welfare shall pay the retiring employee the moneys contributed by both the employee and the employer together with the interest yielding by the two amounts.
In case of death, the money shall be paid to the person whom the deceased employee mentioned in his or her testament. In case of death before making such a document, the money shall be distributed among the parents, children, the wife or husband who are still alive equally.
In case of no not receiving it, the money shall belong to the Welfare Fund.
2. Payment in other cases shall be made in accordance with the rules prescribed by the Committee and from other moneys not the money paid under 1.
3. The Fund gives the power to the labor official on duty to summon the person who is responsible to pay compensation the employee, such as the person committing a wrongful act against the employee, to pay such compensation to the Fund. The law prescribes the period of time for bringing such action as long as 10 years.
4. The labor inspector, having given to the employer a written warning, has the power to seize or makes an attachment of the person’s property and auctions it. This also applies to the property of the person having duty to deliver the money either contributed by the employee or that contributed by the employer to the Fund in accordance, however, with the provision of the Civil Procedure Code.
5. The right to get money from the Welfare Fund is not transferable; neither is it liable for execution.
6. Within 120 days from the end of the preceding year, the Committee shall submit to the Office of National Financial Inspection the balance sheet together with the statement showing income and expenditure for the immediate past year of the Fund for auditing before passing it on to the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, who will go over it and proposes it further to the Cabinet for information and publication in the Government Gazette.
By huahin Business lawyer
www.k-huahinlawyer.com
WHAT IS WELFARE FUND?