MATERNITY LEAVE OF PREGNANT FEMALE EMPLOYEE IN CASE OF MISCARRIAGE UNDER THE LABOUR PROTECTION LAW IN COMPARISON WITH THE LAW OF REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN)

Abstract

This article is aimed to 1) study the basic concept of determining maternity leave of pregnant female employee in case of miscarriage; 2) study protection of maternity leave of pregnant female employee in case of miscarriage under Thai laws in comparison with the law of Republic of China (Taiwan);  and 3) propose the guidelines for amending and improving Thai law regarding the determination of appropriate maternity leave for pregnant female employees in case of miscarriage. By means of the Qualitative Research with technique of collecting data and documents, the research has found that the Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541 (1998) specifies that a female Employee who is pregnant shall be entitled to maternity leave of not more than ninety-eight days for each pregnancy, exclusive of miscarriage. Consequently, pregnant female employees who have miscarriage are not entitled to maternity leave but instead they must take sick leave and receive wage for sick leave not exceeding 30 days per year. Therefore, the author proposes to amend the Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541 (1998) by specifying that the pregnant female employee who has miscarriage exceeding 3 months should be entitled to maternity leave not exceeding 3 weeks, provided that the employer shall pay the wage to them equal to the rate of working day during leave days but not exceeding 3 weeks. In case that the female employees who have miscarriage not exceeding 3 months, they should be entitled to take maternity leave not exceeding 1 week, provided that the employer shall pay the wage to them equal to the rate of working day but not exceeding 1 week to allow time for them to recuperate and regain strength and receive wage protection during that period.