Social Security

Social security is a system which protects employees against life events: illness, maternity, invalidity, family allowances, unemployment, old age and death. SSO resources come in part from social contributions paid by employers and employees, but also from indirect taxes and levies and state subsidies. Social security allows insured persons to benefit from protection in the event of the occurrence of certain random life events.

Any employee who is over fifteen and under sixty is insured by the SSO fund and must be registered by the employer. The insured who has reached the age of sixty and who has been continuously employed by the employer retains his status as insured. Social security guarantees cease when the employee loses his status as insured. He loses his status as insured in the event of death or cessation of his professional activity.

A company employing at least one employee must register with the social security fund within 30 days of hiring its first employee. The employer must submit two registration forms as follows:

If its workforce increases, the company must submit a new social security registration form for each new employee in the event that the latter does not yet have a SSO affiliation card.

The government, the employer and the employee each pay contributions to the Social Security Fund equal to the rate prescribed by law for the payment of allowances relating to accidents, sickness, invalidity, death, unemployment and at the employee’s maternity ward.

The employer must declare the names of its employees, their wages, as well as provide other information that may be requested by the Social Security Office within 30 days of the date of their employment contract. He must send the employee registration form SS0 1-03 to the social security office instead of the company’s head office. Once this procedure has been completed, the social security office issues a certificate to the company and insurance cards for all employees.

Anyone else who is not an employee of a company can apply for insurance by notifying their intention to the social security office.

It is possible to submit voluntarily to the payment of social contributions in order to benefit from the protection guaranteed by the SSO system.

When an employee leaves the company due to his dismissal, resignation, retirement or death, the employer must submit the request for deletion of his name from the social security system by sending the OSS 6 form to the social security office. This form is used by the employer for the termination of an employee‘s insurance in the event of dismissal, death, retirement or transfer to another subsidiary. In this case, the employer can use this form for seven employees.

Subscription to the social security fund allows you to benefit from several guarantees:

In the event of an injury or illness not related to employment, membership in the fund allows partial or total coverage of the costs of medical examinations, medical treatment, hospital accommodation and meals, medication and medical assistance, ambulance and others. Insured persons have a social security card which they can present in public hospitals to receive subsidized medical care. A holiday indemnity equal to 50% of the basic salary is offered to insured persons who meet the required conditions for a specified period.

Regarding disability, social security has set up an allowance of up to THB 4,000 per month and a salary allowance equal to 50% of the basic salary offered until the end of their life.

As with accidents, membership in the fund provides partial or full coverage of hospital costs during your stay in the maternity ward, covering the following costs for you and your spouse: medical examination and childcare costs , the costs of medical treatment, the costs of drugs and medical assistance, the costs of childbirth, the costs of accommodation, meals and treatment in hospital, the costs of breastfeeding and treatment of newborns. born, ambulance or patient transport costs, and other necessary expenses. All costs are covered up to a limit of 13,000 THB. Vacation pay is also available at 50% of basic salary for a period of three months.

The designated beneficiaries, (usually spouse, children, parents or others) of a deceased insured, can apply for an allowance for funeral expenses up to the amount of 40,000 THB.

Insured persons are entitled to lump sum allowances for a maximum of two children under the age of fifteen to cover current expenses, school fees, medical expenses and, where applicable, other necessary costs.

Non-active members aged 55 and over and whose contribution period has exceeded 180 months are entitled to a pension or a lump sum payment.

Members who have contributed at least six times to the social security fund in the 15 months preceding their dismissal can apply for benefits for the duration of the period during which they are actively seeking employment.

➤  Employers and the government are each required to pay a contribution of the employee’s salary to the social security fund, subject in each case to a maximum contribution of 750 THB (5% of 15,000 THB) per month.

➤  Employees pay contributions of 5%, with a maximum contribution of 750 THB (5% of 15,000 THB) per month. Employees’ contributions are withheld from their wages by employers.

The employer is required to deduct contributions each month from the salaries of his employees to allocate them to the social security fund. The declaration is made by filing the form SSO 1-10 either by mail or online. During the entire period when employees receive their wages, employers are required to remit the sums withheld to the social security office within 15 days of the end of the month in which the deductions were made, whether by check or in cash.

The employer, who does not pay his own contributions or those on behalf of the insured within the prescribed period, is required to pay an additional contribution of 2% per month of unpaid contributions that have not yet been paid or of the missing amount from the day following the due date.

For the employee, the amount deducted at source from his salary by the employer for SSO contributions is deductible from his taxable income during his annual tax return to pay income tax. He will therefore be able to deduct from taxable income the amount of social contributions which have been deducted from him.

There are two types of employee contributions in Thailand: social security fund and provident fund.

The provident fund is a fund created voluntarily between the employer and his employees. The assets of the fund are made up of contributions from the employer and employees. The contribution paid by the employer is always equal to or greater than the employee’s savings rate. Therefore, the creation of a provident fund can be seen as an allowance aimed at motivating employees to work with the employer.

The provident fund is a tool allowing employees to save at the same time as the employer, but also to have the fund’s assets managed by a professional management company. The profits from management are distributed to the members of the fund on a proportional basis.

Member savings can increase over time. However, interest and dividends from investments will not be paid to members of the fund until the end of membership. Indeed, the purpose of creating the fund is to accumulate a certain amount of savings to ensure a high quality of life for retirement.

It is only at the end of the membership that each person receives all of their savings, part of the employer’s contribution as well as the interest earned.

In the event of the employee’s resignation, he may choose to temporarily keep his money in the old fund before transferring it to the provident fund of his new employer. This will allow the affiliate to keep his retirement savings in the provident system.