Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin shared concern for insured persons under Section 39, in cases of missing contributions and ending their insured person status, to continue to have the status. He urged the Social Security Appeal Board to consider establishing clear guidelines for action, facilitating insured persons, and providing staff with the same guidelines.
Labour Minister Mr. Suchart Chomklin reported cases where many Social Security Offices in Bangkok and provincial branches nationwide have issued letters to the Appeal Committee to consider cases where insured persons under Section 39 of the social security system have already been registered as insured persons, and some later faced problems ceasing to be insured persons due to lack contributions. The Social Security Act B.E. 2533 states that insured persons under Section 39 who are absent from submitting contributions for three consecutive months will cease to have their insured person status since the first month of absence. There are also cases that insured persons assign to deduct contributions from their bank account, but their balance is insufficient, causing their status to end. Such cases occur frequently, and each Social Security Office is unable to diagnose itself. Therefore, the matter was sent to the Appeal Committee for a resolution.
Mr. Suchart continued that as the Labour Minister, he has a clear policy to assist insured persons in such cases to avoid ending their statuses. Therefore, he instructed the Appeal Committee under the Social Security Act B.E. 2533, chaired by Mr. Arthit Ismo, to accelerate this consideration to make recommendations to the Social Security Office to improve the law and create clear guidelines to be flexible and consistent with the objectives and regulations of Social Security Act. The Appeal Committee appointed by the Minister consists of a Chairman of the Board Committee who is qualified in law, a qualified medical committee member, a qualified social security committee member, a qualified member on labour issues, employer representatives and employee representatives, to give their opinion to the Social Security Office.
The process of submitting a request for an extension or postponement of the deadline includes indicating the reasons for necessity, which allows the deadline to be extended or postponed. However, the request must be submitted within 15 days after the expiration of such necessity to prevent the insured person from having to be released from the status of being an insured person. The employer, the insured person, or any other person that is not satisfied with the officer’s orders shall have the right to appeal in writing to the Appeal Committee within 30 days from the date of receiving such order. The Appeal Committee will then consider and notify the decision in writing to the appellant. But if the appellant is not satisfied, they have the right to bring the case to the Labour Court within 30 days from the date of receiving the decision. If the case is not brought to the Labour Court within such a period, the Appeal Committee’s decision is final.
Chairman of the Appeal Committee Mr. Arthit Ismo said that initially, the Appeal Committee had an academic subcommittee to study in detail the guidelines so that the insured person would not have to cease their status following the inability to contribute. This time, the Appeal Committee’s opinion will serve as a source and suggestion to the Social Security Office in determining appropriate practices and benefits for insured persons.
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Division of Public Relations
25 March 2021
