The Labour Minister commenced the seminar on “promoting cooperation in the implementation of organizational missions between the Labour Commission and the Ministry of Labour to promote productivity and create peace in the national industrial society in all dimensions, in vulnerable provinces and areas in Bangkok.” The seminar also gave a special lecture on “the Ministry of Labour’s management policies and missions amid the Covid-19 pandemic and its Impact on the workforce”. The seminar took place in Nakhon Nayok.
Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin presided over the opening ceremony of the seminar on “promoting cooperation in the implementation of organizational missions between the Labour Commission and the Ministry of Labour to promote productivity and create peace in the national industrial society in all dimensions, in vulnerable provinces and areas in Bangkok.” The seminar also gave a special lecture on the topic of “the Ministry of Labour’s management policies and missions amid the Covid-19 pandemic and its Impact on the workforce”. The seminar took place in Phusaktarn Resort Hotel, Muang, Nakhon Nayok. Secretary-General to the Ministry of Labour Mr. Suthep Chitvong and the Ministry of Labour’s executives also joined the occasion. The Labour Minister said that he was delighted and honored to give a special lecture on “the Ministry of Labour’s management policies and missions amid the Covid-19 pandemic and its Impact on the workforce”. The pandemic has had a profound impact on the workforce. Many media outlets have revealed numbers of unemployed people, whereby the Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in workers being at risk of layoffs. Today, the most important aspects are Thailand’s economic statistics, which must be aligned for planning and correction to be most effective. The Ministry of Labour has the statistics of insured persons who applied for unemployment benefits during the crisis. The clear number is 933,367 people from the databases, totaling 14,982.717 million Baht (as of August 25, 2020). For this group of works, all relevant parties will need to work together to support and issue measures to assist both employees and employers.
Mr. Suchart continued that on August 27, he delivered the Ministry of Labour’s policies to executives and all heads of government agencies to accelerate the mission of support to workers affected by Covid-19 following the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister’s orders (General Prawit Wongsuwan). This is especially relevant to the urgent issue that must be accomplished by 2020, which is to organize the Thailand Job Expo 2020 to be held in September 2020 with 1 million jobs. Government agencies, the private sector, state enterprises, and all ministries will come together to match work and people, with a platform called “Thaimeengarntum.com” which will be the central collection source for such vacancies.
In addition, there are measures to support the employment of new graduates and unemployed people from the Covid-19 crisis. Employers must be in the social security system and must not terminate employees’ employment at a rate exceeding 15% within one year. Compensation measures include employees of companies affected by the Covid-19 outbreak who have not received remedial assistance, for insurers under Section 33 of Thai nationality (less than six months of contributions within 15 months) Covid-19 outbreak to receive assistance and remedies. The target is 59,776 people. Measures also include reducing the rate of social security contributions to employers and insurers from 5 percent to 2 percent of the previous 3-month wages from September to November 2020. These measures will help maintain employment levels and increase the domestic market’s purchasing power, as well as reduce expenses for both the insured persons and employers at approximately 23,000 million Baht from 12.92 million people. Measures include assistance to companies that take interest-free (0% interest) loans from the Skill Development Fund over 12 months from May 1, 2020, to August 31, 2021. Companies can take loans for skill development at a limit of 1 million Baht. In 2021, there is a credit line of more than 100 million Baht with proactive measures for unemployed employees to quickly benefit. This will include close integration to monitor the companies expected to undergo layoffs, providing proactive services to pay benefits according to labour protection and social security laws, accurately and on time.
“The Ministry of Labour will use the driving mechanism by setting up the National Labour Administration Center as a center for supervision, to monitor the labour situation and take necessary action prompting, to solve affected peoples’ issues on time. The Ministry of Labour has an integrated network of operations in all sectors, including the government, private sector, and civil society sectors, to meet the government’s vision on being “committed to making Thailand a developed country in the 21st century” and introducing the sufficiency economy philosophy as a guideline for official practice. I ask that all government agency heads continue to develop the nation’s workforce,” concluded Mr. Suchart.
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Division of Public Relations
30 August 2020
