Notice Period and Pay in Lieu of Notice (Section 17)

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อัปเดตล่าสุดเมื่อ 5 กันยายน 2569

Notice period (การบอกกล่าวล่วงหน้า, kan bok klao luang na, and when paid out instead of worked, pay in lieu of notice) is the advance warning either party must give to end an employment contract of no fixed term under Section 17 of the Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541. The rule is one pay period: notice given on or before a wage payment date takes effect on the next payment date, and no more than three months’ notice need ever be given. The employer may pay the wages for that period instead of having the employee work it. Notice is separate from severance, and both are usually owed together.

How Section 17 works

A fixed-term contract ends on its date with no notice from either side. An indefinite contract requires written notice given at or before a payment date so that it takes effect at the following payment date. The statute caps the requirement at three months, so a monthly-paid employee on a very long pay cycle is not entitled to more, although the contract can promise a longer period and that promise binds. No notice is owed where the employer dismisses for a Section 119 cause.

The employer may choose to pay in lieu of notice, and since the 2019 amendment that payment is due on the day the termination takes effect. The obligation runs both ways: an employee who resigns must also give one pay period, though an employer’s remedy for a short resignation is a claim for proven damages, which is rarely worth pursuing. Pay in lieu counts as wages, so it is subject to withholding tax and is calculated on the same rate as the last wage.

Practical points for a foreign employee

Read the contract first. Many expatriate contracts fix notice at one, two or three months, which is longer than the statutory minimum and enforceable. Garden leave, where the employee is paid but asked not to attend, is lawful and common. The ใบอนุญาตทำงาน และ การขยายเวลาพำนัก remain valid through the notice period, since employment continues until the effective date, which is one reason to negotiate working the notice rather than taking pay in lieu.

The common mistake is treating notice and severance as alternatives. A dismissed employee with two years’ service who is paid one month in lieu of notice is still owed 90 days’ severance on top. The other is counting notice from the date of the letter rather than from the pay date, which is how a month’s notice becomes nearly two months’ pay. Both amounts can be claimed at the labour inspector’s office or the Labour Court; the employee rights guide sets out the wider entitlements.

A worked example of the dates

For an employee paid monthly on the 25th, the statutory notice runs as follows.

An employer that wants a clean end on the 25th should give notice on or before the previous 25th, or pay the extra days in lieu. An employee resigning should do the same to avoid a claim for damages, however unlikely.

คำถามที่พบบ่อย

ดูเพิ่มเติม: severance pay, termination of employment, probation period, employment contract, and the guides on สิทธิของลูกจ้างในประเทศไทย และ กฎหมายแรงงานไทย.