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Home » Reader question » Reader Question: My girlfriend in Thailand is underpaid, what can she do?
Dear readers,
I heard from my girlfriend a few weeks ago that she went from 7000 baht to 8000 baht a month for 12 hours of work: 7 days a week for work behind the bar. So I wondered if they had a minimum wage in Thailand too?
So I looked at Thailandblog and came across an article from 2013 that the minimum wage was already 9000 baht for 6 days of work. She is therefore underpaid, the big boss is also a Dutchman.
My question is: is this still the case and what can you do about it without her being evicted?
Yours faithfully,
Gerard
Gee Gerard,
as far as the minimum wage is concerned, it is correct, but this is only applied to officially registered workers, usually in large companies. The vast majority of working people simply do not work registered, with us this is called “undeclared work”, here it is normal. Your girlfriend therefore has no leg to stand on if she is not registered and therefore also pays taxes on her wages. Even if the boss is Dutch, the answer she will get will simply be: if you are not satisfied, go work elsewhere, there are dozens waiting to take over your job. If it is a thriving bar, your girlfriend will also share in the tips on top of her normal wages, which will go into a joint pot and will be divided among the staff on a weekly basis. This amount can range from several hundred to ??? Baht.
Regards,
Lung addie
The minimum set by the government is 300 baht per day for 8 hours of work.
This knocks gerard 300 bat a day
Beats .
Unfortunately, this minimum wage is being flouted.
Here some still work every day in the garment industry for 200 baths.
An aunt of my spouse still receives this generous salary.
Jan Beute.
As lung addie already points out, yes. Most of the work in the bar is just black.
Furthermore, if your girlfriend is going to work in a bar, she will also have to look at what the rest earn.
Many girls who work in a bar rely on tips, lady drinks and after-hours activities. At the better / stricter bars they sometimes have a monthly salary of 5000 baht and they have to earn the rest themselves. Then you sometimes have something like permanent staff, or for example the cashier, who sometimes want to get a little more because they are not allowed to leave before closing time.
But you simply should not expect that your girlfriend will suddenly receive a fixed salary of 10.000 or 15.000 baht per month. Then the bar owner Thai or Dutch simply says someone else for you who will do it for 7000-8000. Because there are enough of those too.
Also a sincere piece of advice: Let your girlfriend find something else for 5 or 6 days a week. She can also earn 8000-10.000 with that, and friends who still work in a bar when you are not there will definitely cause a hassle.
Dear Gerard,
Black work is also paid less in the Netherlands than white work.
Dear Gerard,
Your girlfriend is well paid to Bartermen. Most bars do not use the 9.000 baht or 300 baht per day. In Pattaya, the usual wage is no less than 3.000 baht per month + Ladydrinks benefit + (possibly part barfine) + part of the tips.
Depending on her appearance, they get a lot of lady drinks and tips.
My girlfriend works in an exclusive Pub (no barladies) and regularly receives a few hundred baht to sometimes even 1.000 baht TIP from the guests (without any consideration).
In this way, in addition to hate 9.000 and the average 250 baht tip money (general) plus the hand tips, she has a nice income.
Moral: If your lady speaks good English find a good English pub or a place where the rich farangs come. Whoever has it wide, let it fall wide!
I live on Koh Samui and no dog will work there for that amount of money. At 7 Eleven the salary is already 12000 and with some allowances 15000. At most resorts an 8 hour working day, and 3 free meals. And increasingly 6 instead of 4 days off per month. Salary is also largely determined by where you work.
At the 7/11, the minimum wage for starters is just 300 baht per day. By having overtime, the salary will therefore be higher. Depending on the time you work there, the salary also increases.
In the first month you even have to pay for the 7/11 shirts. This is deducted from the first salary.
Turnover is also very high.
Many sectors even work with amounts of 200 baht with a commission scheme. This even occurs at many shops in pantip Plaza. By motivating in this way, more attention is paid to sales. With the commission, it rises to 20.000 baht in good months.
It is not for nothing that many 7/11s put a handle in the cash drawer.
However, this is checked at the end of the day and the employee in question may pay back or deduct from salary or. no salary.
also on a blacklist.
The Tesco Lotus in Thailand is also one of the top payers .
I think all those big food supermarkets learned a lot from the German Albrecht family.
You know about the local ALDI chain.
And don't forget the MCKFC fast food chains.
Jan Beute.
A Dutch owner? I thought after all these years here that only Thai owners are scammers. She is severely underpaid, leave for another bar as soon as possible. If desired, I can name a few bars where she earns a decent income
Complaints about underpayment and other irregularities must be submitted to the local labor department or labor tribunal.
And those complaints are really being investigated. And the sanctions are really not to be underestimated. Thailand even has very strict labor laws on some points, such as pregnancy and termination benefits, even much stricter than in Belgium or the Netherlands.
Only less educated Thais are not assertive enough to file a complaint.
Dear Henry , Complaints are being investigated ?????
I'm afraid it will stay that way.
And what do you think what happens when a well-articulated Thai opens his mouth at this lab dep.
He gets a kick in the ass from his old employer that he won't soon forget
Trade unions are still not WELCOME in Thailand.
And why not ???? The elite don't like this.
Jan Beute.
Dear Henry,
Is what you say correct, and @janbeute: in the end, some objectivity yields more than just posting some cynical comments here and there in comments. It is true, from what I have observed, that in labor disputes people can indeed appeal to a department of the labor union, or can enlist the help of the judge. A cousin of my wife worked as a salesman at a local and large franchise car dealership. The relationship with his boss was not a good one, and that eventually led to his dismissal. However, he was still owed 300 thousand baht in back wages and bonuses, bonuses and promotions. Payment took a long time to come. Baas believed that wasting time would result in the claim being waived. Finally, the nephew went to the local union office. Then to court with a lawyer. Baas was sentenced to pay and a fine, and full reimbursement of all costs incurred by nephew. Cousin is working at a competitor dealership.
A cousin of my wife worked as a saleswoman of beauty treatments for a large country. It is customary to pay bonuses at the end of the year. In December 2013, this failed to materialise, despite repeated promises. In July 2014, with the help of the union, she started putting pressure on her. She received the money in September. It has not, however, strained labor relations.
A course of action like this has many resistances: Thai people will avoid confrontations if possible, avoid conflict, but above all prevent mutual loss of face. Such a state of affairs therefore costs them a great deal of effort, and “simple people” do not know all the possibilities to obtain their rights (as is also the case in the Netherlands). the informal circuit or working for SMEs, costs even more money to act legally. In addition, in the case of the questioner, almost the entire bar sector agrees to pay less than 300bht/day. Not unimportant, and what many apparently have not noticed, is that the questioner reports that his girlfriend's wages have increased from 7000 baht/month to 8000 bht/month, which means a wage increase of more than 14%. Would many pensioners want!
My gardeners receive a starting wage of 8500 Thb, 2 x meals, free living and clothing. Overtime 1,5 x
Reception starts 9500 enzzzz. Thai kitchen boss: 20.000,
Restaurant , bar too. All free accommodation and paid overtime, 16 double days and 2 weeks holiday per year. + everyone registered and I pay. There is also a special cash register for doctor's expenses. And per year 13th month if they have been with us for at least 1 year. Have 45 employees. 15 of them have been working for less than 8 years and most of them have been here for 2 years. And my wage costs have dropped % of income as people became better paid and respected. Thefts compared to my former partners have completely disappeared.
Minimum wage is 300 Thb per day. But food is normally not included. Working day 9 hours of which 1 as a break. 6 days week.
If you pay and appreciate your staff properly, then the problems will disappear right away. My staff here is MUCH better now than the one I once employed in Belgium.
Also 3x a year staff bbq. One with cash prizes.