In this paper, I aim to examine the similarities and the differences between the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 of the U.S. and the Thailand Labor Protection Act of 1998, amended 2008. Although I will not go into every section of each law, I will discuss the major provisions of each law and then analyze how the two laws play significant roles in determining the labor rights between the U.S. and Thailand. From the selected provisions of each law, I will attempt to draw a conclusion on how, for examples, extensive the law is regarding who can receive the benefits and whether or not it is an advantage of the worker to be protected under a highly-regulated law or a more flexible one.
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 provides the …show more content…
The FMLA shows a great inclusiveness of who the medical leave benefit applies to. It extends not just to the spouse of the employee, including same-sex spouse, but also to the children and the parents. This extension of the benefit coverages provides a concept in the U.S that an employee also have family members to take care of and the FMLA ensures that the employees have this rights to take care of their family members as much as themselves. Moreover, the act also provide a clear provision of pregnancy and birth giving. Under Leave Entitlement, one of the reasons for leaving is that “The birth of a son or daughter or placement of a son or daughter with the employee for adoption or foster care…” The fact that the FMLA allows an employee to take time off to take care of their children adoption process proves that the act intends to include family aspect to labor relations and go beyond just to provide benefits for the employees. All these ideas of family benefits may seem like the normal rights that employees in the U.S. deserve to have, but it is another story for the employee in Thailand. Under the current LPA, the benefit of sick leave or paid sick leave only applies to the employees themselves. Meaning that, the law do not give a job protection to the employees who need to leave for family medical purposes. In another word, the employers may fire any employee who take a leave for other purposes other than sickness of the employees themselves. Seeing how the U.S law regards family member as an important issue of the employee's, Thailand labor laws also need to consider the family aspect of employment because the quality of life of family members can also affect the mental and physical performance of
The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 provides the …show more content…
The FMLA shows a great inclusiveness of who the medical leave benefit applies to. It extends not just to the spouse of the employee, including same-sex spouse, but also to the children and the parents. This extension of the benefit coverages provides a concept in the U.S that an employee also have family members to take care of and the FMLA ensures that the employees have this rights to take care of their family members as much as themselves. Moreover, the act also provide a clear provision of pregnancy and birth giving. Under Leave Entitlement, one of the reasons for leaving is that “The birth of a son or daughter or placement of a son or daughter with the employee for adoption or foster care…” The fact that the FMLA allows an employee to take time off to take care of their children adoption process proves that the act intends to include family aspect to labor relations and go beyond just to provide benefits for the employees. All these ideas of family benefits may seem like the normal rights that employees in the U.S. deserve to have, but it is another story for the employee in Thailand. Under the current LPA, the benefit of sick leave or paid sick leave only applies to the employees themselves. Meaning that, the law do not give a job protection to the employees who need to leave for family medical purposes. In another word, the employers may fire any employee who take a leave for other purposes other than sickness of the employees themselves. Seeing how the U.S law regards family member as an important issue of the employee's, Thailand labor laws also need to consider the family aspect of employment because the quality of life of family members can also affect the mental and physical performance of