Reviewed by ThaiLawOnline, a licensed Thai law firm practising in Thailand since 2006. Thai lawyer of record: Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., Thai Bar Licence 3149/2556.
Last updated on September 5, 2026
Thai employment is governed mainly by the Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541 (1998), as amended. It sets the floor: minimum wage, working hours, leave, and above all what an employer must pay when it ends someone’s employment. These rules apply to a foreign employee working in Thailand just as they apply to a Thai one, and a contract cannot take them away. This page covers the parts that matter most in practice, with the section numbers so you can check them.
Employment duties begin as soon as the company hires, as explained in our guide to business setup in Thailand.
Table of Contents
Severance Pay: the Rule Employers Underestimate
If an employer terminates an employee who has worked at least 120 days, and the dismissal is not for one of the serious causes in the Act, statutory severance is due on top of any notice pay. The amount rises with length of service (Labour Protection Act sections 118 to 122):
| Continuous service | Severance (days of last wage) |
|---|---|
| 120 days but less than 1 year | 30 days |
| 1 year but less than 3 years | 90 days |
| 3 years but less than 6 years | 180 days |
| 6 years but less than 10 years | 240 days |
| 10 years but less than 20 years | 300 days |
| 20 years or more | 400 days |
The top tier, 400 days for twenty years of service, was added by the Labour Protection Act (No. 7) B.E. 2562, effective 5 May 2019. A long-serving employee is therefore entitled to more than thirteen months of pay on termination, and this is the figure that surprises employers who assumed a month or two would cover it. Severance is not due where the employee resigns, or where dismissal is for a serious cause listed in section 119, such as dishonesty, an intentional criminal act against the employer, or gross negligence causing serious damage.
Can Severance Be Waived? Advance Waiver Void, Release After Termination Valid
Severance and annual leave pay cannot be signed away while the employment continues. The Labour Protection Act is a law of public order, and the Supreme Court has confirmed that an agreement made in advance to exclude an employee from its protection is void under section 150 of the Civil and Commercial Code. A clause in the employment contract, the work rules or a retirement scheme that says no severance will be payable has no effect, and the employee can still claim the statutory amount.
The position changes once the employment has ended. In Supreme Court Decision No. 1162/2569 (Labour Division, 2026), a company president who retired on 31 August 2020 signed two receipt documents on his retirement date stating that he had been paid in full and would claim nothing further, then sued for severance of more than 6.2 million baht and annual leave pay. The Court held that the employment relationship ended on the retirement date, that the documents were a compromise under section 850 settling an existing dispute by mutual concessions, and that because he knew the amounts due, held the most senior position and was not under pressure from his employer, the compromise bound him and extinguished the waived claims under section 852. The severance and leave pay claims were dismissed. The practical lessons for employees before they sign an exit document, and for employers drafting one, are set out in our guide to the severance pay waiver rule in Thailand.
Notice of Termination
Separate from severance is advance notice. For an employment contract with no fixed end date, section 17 requires notice of one pay period: given at or before a wage-payment date, to take effect on the next payment date, and never more than three months. The employer can pay wages in lieu of that notice instead of having the employee work it. Notice and severance are two different obligations, and a terminated employee is generally entitled to both.
Working Hours and Overtime
Normal working hours are capped at 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week for non-hazardous work, and 7 hours a day and 42 hours a week for work classified as hazardous (section 23). Employees are entitled to a rest period of at least one hour after five hours of work, at least one weekly holiday, and the traditional public holidays. Overtime is paid at a premium, from 1.5 times the hourly rate for overtime on a normal working day up to 3 times the rate for overtime worked on a holiday, and overtime generally requires the employee’s consent.
Leave
- Annual holiday: at least 6 working days a year once the employee has completed one full year of service (section 30).
- Sick leave: as long as genuinely sick, but the employer must pay for up to 30 working days a year. A medical certificate can be required for three or more days.
- Maternity leave: up to 120 days per pregnancy, counting holidays that fall within the leave and days taken for prenatal check-ups. The employer pays full wages for up to 60 of those days (section 41 and section 59), and the Social Security Fund pays a separate benefit of 50% of wages for up to 90 days. These figures were 98 days and 45 days until the Labour Protection Act (No. 9) B.E. 2568 came into force on 7 December 2025.
- Spouse leave (paternity leave): up to 15 days on full wages for an employee whose spouse gives birth, to be taken within 90 days of the birth (section 41/1 and section 59/2). This is new in the 2025 amendment and is drafted by reference to the employee’s spouse rather than the employee’s sex, so it is available to husbands and, following the 2024 marriage equality amendments, to same-sex spouses.
- Infant-care leave: a further 15 days on top of maternity leave, paid at 50% of wages, where a medical certificate shows the newborn has a condition, an abnormality or a disability that requires care (section 41 and section 59/1). Also new in the 2025 amendment.
- Business leave, military service, and training leave are also provided for in the Act.
Minimum Wage
Minimum wage is a daily rate set by province and reviewed periodically, so check the current figure for the province where the work is performed rather than relying on a single national number. It applies to all employees, Thai and foreign alike, and a contract paying below it is unenforceable to that extent.
Where Disputes Go
Employment disputes are heard by the Labour Court, which is designed to be quicker and less formal than the ordinary courts, and an employee does not pay court fees to bring a claim. An employee who believes a dismissal was unfair can also claim additional compensation for unfair termination under the Act on top of statutory severance, and the Labour Court has wide discretion to award it. That combination, statutory severance plus an unfair-dismissal award, is why terminating without proper grounds and process is expensive in Thailand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my employer make me waive severance pay in Thailand?
Not while you are employed. A waiver of statutory severance agreed in advance, in the contract, the work rules or a retirement scheme, is void under section 150 of the Civil and Commercial Code because the Labour Protection Act is a law of public order. You keep the right to claim the full amount under section 118.
Is a full and final release I signed on my last day of work binding?
It can be. In Supreme Court Decision No. 1162/2569 a release signed on the retirement date, by an employee who knew the amounts he was entitled to and signed freely, was held to be a valid compromise under sections 850 and 852 of the Civil and Commercial Code, and his severance and annual leave claims were dismissed. Have any exit document reviewed before you sign it.
How ThaiLawOnline Can Help
We act for both employers and employees. For employers we draft compliant employment contracts and work rules, calculate the correct severance and notice for a planned termination, and structure exits to limit unfair-dismissal exposure. For employees we assess whether a dismissal was lawful and what you are owed, and represent you before the Labour Court. See our legal fees, or our employment agreement templates.
Last reviewed: 5 September 2026. Every section cited on this page was read against a primary and no correction was needed. Verified: the severance bands in section 118 (30/90/180/240/300/400 days, the 400-day tier added by the Labour Protection Act (No. 7) B.E. 2562), the serious causes in section 119, the notice rule in section 17 including the three-month ceiling, working hours in section 23 (8 a day and 48 a week, 7 and 42 for hazardous work), and annual holiday in section 30. Supreme Court Decision No. 1162/2569 was read in full in the text issued by the Office of Judicial Assistants of the Supreme Court as reproduced at deka.in.th; the Supreme Court’s own search database was not reachable on the day of review and the citation will be re-checked against it. The 2025 family-leave figures were checked against the Labour Protection Act (No. 9) B.E. 2568 itself, published in the Royal Gazette on 7 November 2025 and in force 7 December 2025: maternity leave of 120 days with the employer paying up to 60, spouse-assistance leave of 15 fully paid days within 90 days of the birth under sections 41/1 and 59/2, and infant-care leave of 15 days at half wages under section 41 paragraph four and section 59/1. Not verified against a primary source, and stated here so the date above does not imply more than it should: the overtime multipliers, the 30 working days of paid sick leave, the Social Security Fund maternity benefit of 50 per cent for 90 days, and the description of Labour Court procedure and unfair-dismissal compensation.
A note from experience: the most common and costly mistake we see is an employer treating a termination as a simple matter of one month’s notice, then discovering that a long-serving employee is owed six months to over a year of severance, plus a possible unfair-dismissal award on top. Work the number out before you act, not after. Contact us for a calculation on a specific case.
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