Co-authored by Kraisorn Rueangkul and Ponpun Krataykhwan
of DFDL
Thailand has introduced a compulsory retirement age designed to
provide those retiring with a severance payment following
amendments to the Labor Protection Act.
The Labor Protection Act (No.6) B.E. 2560 (2017) (the Act) has
been amended to combat the obstacles that retirees encountered when
attempting to receive severance pay. For the first time in Thai
employment law, the Act lays down a compulsory retirement age to
which employers must adhere. The Act also deals with the granting
of severance pay to retirees. In past years, had an employer failed
to identify the age of retirement (whether in an employment
agreement, work rules, or HR policy), the employee was expected to
carry on working until he or she was unfit to do so. This practice
caused many employees to resign voluntarily, with the result that
they were then unable to claim severance pay under Thai law.
