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Careful selection for
an outsource company
David Tan
Under the current economic climate employers want to be very
selective in hiring new people and current employees may have to take on
more responsibilities. For the kind of work constituting a part of the goods
manufacturing process or the rendering of services, employers prefer to
outsource the performance of these works to an external company.
This begs the question: Are the employees of this external company
(“outsource company”) entitled to the same rights and benefits as the
employees of the employer (“employer”)? If the answer is yes! this would
mean that the employer is exposed to the risk of been claimed by the
employees of the outsource company, if these employees are not provided with
the same rights and benefits as the employees of the employer.
For example: The employer is a company that manufactures and sells
sporting clothes. The employer needs more people to help manufacture more
sporting clothes so it outsourced some of its manufacturing work to the
outsource company. The employees of the outsource company help to
manufacture the sporting clothes of the employer and they worked overtime
during the manufacturing process.
The employees of the outsource company did not receive any overtime pay for
their overtime work performed. However, the employees of the employer
received overtime pay equivalent to twice their normal wage. The employees
of the outsource company then claim the employer for their overtime pay.
The employer may have to pay the same overtime pay to the employees of the
outsource company as well. This is because the work performed by the
outsource company’s employees is work that “is part of the production
process or business under the responsibility of” the employer. Note that
this is regardless of whether the employer supervises the performance of the
work or is responsible for payment of wages to the outsource company’s
employees. These are all expressly provided by the new Paragraph 1 of
Section 11/1 of the Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541 (1998).
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Tip
Given the provision of the new Paragraph 1 of Section 11/1, a
company seeking to outsource its work should investigate and
select an outsource company that can adhere to the rights and
benefits of employees as provided by the labour law. Otherwise,
the company may end up paying damages to employees of another
company.
David Tan is a Lecturer of Business Law at Asian University and
author of the book “A Primer of Thai Business Law”, available
online at www.chulabook.com or call 038 233 490 to order. In
Bangkok, the book is available at Asiabooks and Kinokuniya
bookstores. Any questions or comments to David should be sent to
[email protected] |
BoT to revise Thailand’s
economic growth estimate
The Bank of Thailand (BoT) will revise its economic growth
estimate on January 23 following an evaluation of its measures to cut the policy
interest rate by 1 percent, according to a senior bank official.
Ummara Sripayak, senior director of the BoT Domestic Division, said the central
bank continues to maintain its economic growth projection for next year at 3.8-5
percent.
The assessment was made in October before the shutdown of Suvarnabhumi Airport
by anti-government protesters.
Because of this, she believes the economy will not grow as much as targeted
earlier and said that the bank would revise its growth target on January 23.
She projected that the political direction will become clearer after December 15
when candidates for Thailand’s next prime minister will be screened and voted on
by members of parliament.
Mrs. Ummara said the impact from the global economic crisis on Thailand is
unavoidable, particularly relating to tourism and exports.
However, the country’s international reserves remain strong, inflation rates are
low and oil prices continue to decline.
Under the circumstances, should politics stabilize, it would greatly reduce the
negative impact of the world financial crisis on the Thai economy.
Meanwhile, she noted that interest rates are still declining, and the Monetary
Policy Committee is scheduled to meet on January 13. (TNA)
Economy to grow only 2%
next year, says top Thai banker
The Thai economy is set to grow at most only 2 percent next year as many
think tanks forecast earlier, according to a top banker.
Still, Kosit Punpiumrat, executive chairman of Bangkok Bank, the country’s
largest commercial bank, said all parties concerned must monitor fiscal and
monetary policies adopted by other countries worldwide to determine how
effective they will be.
Should such policies from other countries produce fruitful results, it would
benefit Thailand’s economic growth.
But should they just produce temporary results, the economy might slow down
or even contract next year and in following years because 70 percent of
Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth counts on exports.
In the fourth quarter of this year, he said, the economy is projected to
contract.
He said he believes interest rates next year would be on a decline from this
year, which could help boost the economy to a certain extent.
Kosit said efforts to stimulate the economy through monetary policy alone
have some drawbacks since interest rate cuts cannot be done if the rate
stays very low.
So, it is necessary to adapt the fiscal policy to help jumpstart the
economy, particularly when the private sector is not in a position to boost
the economy significantly.
Bangkok Bank president Chatsiri Sophonpanich said his bank has set its loan
growth target next year at 5 percent, close to the 5-7 percent projected
earlier, and that he expects GDP would grow some 2-3 percent. (TNA)
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