Thailand has issued the regulation of Employee Welfare Fund (EWF), which was established under the Labour Protection Act B.E.2541 (1998) but had remained unimplemented, is now scheduled to take place in late 2025.
The Employee Welfare fund provides financial support for employees in cases such as
Termination of employment
Death
Other circumstances as determined by the Employee Welfare Fund Committee.
The Royal Decree Determining the Period for Starting the Collection of Savings and Contributions to the Employee Welfare Fund was officially enacted and published in the Government Gazette. According to this royal decree, contributions to the Employee Welfare Fund (EWF) will commence on October 1, 2025.
Key details
The government recently passed three decrees with key implementation guidelines for the EWF, as follows:
All companies with 10 or more employees will be required to register their employees with the EWF as of October 1, 2025, unless the employer offers a qualifying provident fund or a comparable level of termination or death benefits.
Minimum contributions to the EWF are set for employers and employees with following details
From 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2030.
From 1 October 2030 onwards
The EWF will be established by the Department of Labor Protection and Welfare and governed by a board of directors with members from the Labor and Finance Ministries, the National Economic and Social Development Board, the Bank of Thailand, and five representatives (each) of employers and employees.
Accrued EWF account savings will be payable to employees on termination of employment for any reason or to designated beneficiaries in case of death.
Effective from 1 October 2025, employer shall make deductions from employees’ wage in every payment to pay for accumulated funds, and employer shall pay contributions to the Employee Welfare Fund within 15 days from the deduction date.
Although the employers offer some form of supplemental retirement benefit to their employees, in the majority of cases a defined contribution provident fund jointly funded by the employer and employees. Many of these plans may satisfy some or all of the criteria for exemption from participation in the EWF; however, employers should review their plan rules to ensure compliance. For example, some employers enroll employees after the probationary period (four months at the median) is completed or some employers allow employees to not enroll the provident fund (or cancel the enrollment).
For more information concerning the change, please refer to the below link (in Thai only).
Royal Decree on Determination of the Commencement Period for the Collection of Accumulate Fund and Contributions for the Employees Welfare Fund B.E.2567 - https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/50135.pdf
Ministerial Regulation on Prescribe the Rate of Accumulated Fund and Contribution related to Employee Welfare Fund B.E.2567 - https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/51627.pdf
Ministerial Regulation on Criteria and Procedures for Supporting to Employees in the event of Termination of Employment or Death B.E.2567 - https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/51630.pdf
Regulation of Employee Welfare Committee regarding the Rate of Accumulated Funds, Contributions and Surcharge into Employee Welfare Fund B.E.2567 - https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/51462.pdf
website of Royal Gazette S
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