On October 26, 2021, at 10.00 hours, Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan presided over the witnessing of the signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding on the Employment Project for People with Social Disabilities between the Department of Employment and seven leading enterprises. Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin, Permanent Secretary of Labour Mr. Boonchob Suttamanaswong, and the Ministry of Labour’s executives also joined the occasion. The Department of Employment’s Director-General Pairoj Chotiksetian signed the MOU at the meeting room on the 5th floor of the Ministry of Labour. Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said he was concerned about vulnerable people, especially people with disabilities wanting to work to support themselves and their families but still lacking opportunity. Therefore, he assigned the Labour Minister, Mr. Suchart Chomklin, to accelerate the implementation of the employment initiatives for the people with social disabilities between the public and private sectors. The goal is to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities, to reduce inequality, and enhance opportunities to enable people with disabilities in Thailand to have access to welfare and government services, allowing them to have a career to support themselves and their families with dignity, facing no discrimination. It is considered one of the important policies of the government under the leadership of Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha. The Memorandum of Understanding is an integrated project to improve the quality of life of vulnerable groups between 12 ministries and one agency to comply with the government’s policy of not leaving anyone behind.
Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin gave a speech to the witnesses of the signing. He said that the Ministry of Labour has responded to the government’s policy and has accelerated employment support to help vulnerable groups affected by COVID-19, including support for people with disabilities to have jobs to fulfill their potential and work requirements without leaving anyone behind. The efforts alight with the government’s policy under the leadership of Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha and Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, who oversees the Ministry of Labour. It aligns with the national strategy of creating opportunities and social equality by eliminating inequality and creating justice in all dimensions.
The activity aims to create cooperation in promoting and supporting the employment of people with social disabilities between the Department of Employment and seven leading establishments, namely Adecco Group Thailand, Italian Thai Development PCL, Guardforce Security (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Bangkok Expressway, and Metro PCL, Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co., Ltd., Chairatchakarn Group and Ek-Chai Distribution System Co., Ltd. (Lotus). They have expressed their common intention to work with government agencies and the private sector following the civil state guidelines by employing 329 persons with disabilities.
“The Persons with Disabilities Empowerment Act B.E. 2550 and its amendments require establishments with 100 employees or more to employ people with disabilities at a ratio of 100 to 1. If they cannot do so, the company must contribute to the Persons with Disabilities Empowerment Fund following Section 34, at the rate of 114,245 Baht per year. The payment is according to the number of people with disabilities who are not employed. In the past, over 800 million Baht has been remitted to the fund annually. It is convenient for employers/businesses to comply with the law, but people with disabilities will not directly benefit. Therefore, the Department of Employment has been assigned to encourage establishments to employ socially disabled people by exercising the rights under Section 35 in the category of subcontracting work or subcontracting services. The original lump sum remitted to the fund will change to create opportunities for people with disabilities to have jobs close to home. People with disabilities will have direct income from the company from cooperating with private enterprises across the country. Confirmed matching has already been done for 568 positions from the target of 1,000 positions. This includes 329 positions among the seven participating establishments in the MOU and 239 positions among other private establishments across the country. Employment contracts will be made within December 31, 2021, and employees will start working on January 1, 2022. This way, people with disabilities will have jobs, a career, income, and can receive benefits directly,” said the Labour Minister.
The Department of Employment’s Director-General Phairoj Chotikasathian said the Labour Minister instructed the Department of Employment to proactively publicize for business establishments to choose the method of outsourcing services for the disabled to work in government agencies in the provinces where people with disabilities live, such as the sub-district health promotion hospitals, schools, child development centers, vocational rehabilitation center for persons with disabilities, and service centers for people with disabilities in the local municipalities. For the first time, the goal is to employ 1,000 people who are socially disabled. There are 568 positions by employers/enterprises wishing to support people with disabilities and 1,285 people with disabilities or caregivers who wish to work. There are public service units that can accept people with disabilities to work in the amount of 1,128 positions. The confirmation of matching from all three parties (employers/establishments, persons with disabilities, and public service units) is 568 positions. The Department of Employment by the Bangkok Employment Office in Areas 1-10 and Provincial Employment Offices nationwide are also accelerating the process to hire 1,000 people with disabilities.
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Division of Public Relations
26 October 2021
