Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, 1925 (No. 19) - Thailand (Ratification: 1968)

Article 1 of the Convention. Equality of treatment in case of employment accidents. The Committee takes note of the detailed information supplied in the report and commends the Government’s commitment to take action with a view to improving the situation of the hundreds of thousands of documented and undocumented migrants working in Thailand. It recalls that, while documented workers are registered and protected by the Social Security Fund (SSF) on the same conditions as national workers, undocumented foreign workers with no proof of national identity are not entitled to benefits under the social security system. These persons are, however, eligible to receive work-related compensation at the same rate as national workers under the Workmen’s Compensation Fund (WCF) in accordance with section 50 of the Workmen’s Compensation Act allowing the Social Security Office (SSO) to order the employer to pay compensation. Employers are also responsible for paying the health insurance contributions for undocumented workers (1,150 Thailand Baht (THB)) for workers awaiting registration with the SSF and THB2,800 for those not covered by the SSF). With respect to improving the social security coverage of migrant workers, the Government reports that a Working Committee chaired by the Deputy Secretary of the SSO responsible for studying the current limitations for accessing the social security benefits recommended that the SSO should make it easier for migrant workers to access benefits from the WCF in accordance with the terms and conditions of employment and residence status of migrant workers. The SSO, in turn, has conducted research on the development of a social insurance system for inbound and outbound migrant workers and the technical report is currently with the Committee of Research Report Verification.

The Committee welcomes the efforts undertaken by the SSO to facilitate access of migrant workers to benefits from the WCF and to explore the possibility of developing a social insurance scheme for migrant workers. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the decisions taken by the SSO, as well as on the practical effects of these measures on compliance by employers with their obligation to compensate their workers, whether documented or undocumented, in case of occupational injuries. Also, recalling that the steps taken with a view to verifying the nationality of undocumented migrants came to an end in August 2014, the Committee requests the Government to communicate, with its next report, a thorough assessment of the situation of undocumented migrants who continue to reside and work in Thailand.

With respect to the situation of migrant domestic workers, seasonal workers and workers in agriculture and fisheries, who, according to the report, are exempt from coverage by both the social security scheme and the WCF due to limitation of collection of contributions, the Committee recalls that these categories of workers are fully covered by the Convention and therefore entitled to equal treatment with national workers in respect of employment injuries. It therefore requests the Government to take steps to comply with the Convention and further requests the Government to provide in its next report more detailed information about their situation both in law and in practice, including disaggregated data on the number of documented and undocumented migrant workers in the above categories.