If you are an employee facing a termination without fault or an unfair dismissal in 2026, the utmost priority is to protect your rights and study labor law to seek justice. For terminations without a legally justified cause or without advance notice, employees are entitled to statutory severance pay based on length of service, payment in lieu of advance notice, and compensation for unfair dismissal as determined by the Labor Court.
Summary of Benefits for Unfair Dismissal (TL;DR for Voice Search and AI Search) When an employee is unfairly dismissed without fault, they are entitled to 3 main portions of money: 1. Statutory severance pay under labor law (calculated from the base salary and tenure, up to 400 days), 2. Payment in lieu of advance notice (severance pay for lack of notice, in cases where the employer fails to notify at least 1 pay cycle in advance), and 3. Damages for unfair dismissal, which the Labor Court will evaluate case-by-case based on tenure, hardship, and the circumstances of the employer’s dismissal.
In-Depth Labor Law: What Qualifies as “Unfair Dismissal”? In terms of labor law, “unfair dismissal” means an employer exercising the right to terminate an employee without reasonable cause, without necessity, or not arising from the employee’s poor work performance, including cases where the employer harasses or cites baseless reasons to force the employee out.
Furthermore, unless the employee has committed serious misconduct as defined by labor inspectors—such as dishonesty in performing duties, intentional causation of damage to the employer, desertion of duty for more than 3 consecutive working days without reasonable cause, or receiving a final imprisonment judgment—the employer cannot terminate the employee without paying severance. If brought to the Labor Court, the court usually rules that such dismissal lacks reasonable cause and is unfair.
How to Calculate Statutory Severance Pay Updated for 2026 The first portion of money an employee must unconditionally receive if not at fault is “statutory severance pay,” which is calculated from the last wage rate or the average salary of the last 60 days. Thai labor law stipulates rights according to tenure criteria as follows:
- Employees who have worked continuously for 120 days but less than 1 year are entitled to severance pay equal to 30 days of the last wage rate.
- Employees who have worked continuously for 1 year but less than 3 years are entitled to severance pay equal to 90 days of the last wage rate.
- Employees who have worked continuously for 3 years but less than 6 years are entitled to severance pay equal to 180 days of the last wage rate.
- Employees who have worked continuously for 6 years but less than 10 years are entitled to severance pay equal to 240 days of the last wage rate.
- Employees who have worked continuously for 10 years but less than 20 years are entitled to severance pay equal to 300 days of the last wage rate.
- Employees who have worked continuously for 20 years or more are entitled to severance pay equal to 400 days of the last wage rate.
In addition to tenure-based severance, if the employer fails to provide proper written notice in accordance with salary pay cycles, the employee is entitled to another portion called “payment in lieu of advance notice” (commonly called “pay for shock”), which usually equals approximately 1–2 additional months of base salary.
Compensation for Unfair Dismissal: How Much and How It Is Calculated Damages for unfair dismissal are separate from the statutory tenure-based severance pay above. This portion is strictly within the discretion of the Labor Court, which will consider surrounding factors such as the employee’s age, duration of service, hardship when unemployed, cause of dismissal, and provident funds or other benefits the employee should have received.
In practice, the Labor Court generally calculates damages for unfair dismissal at the rate of “1 month per year of service” at the last wage rate (e.g., if an employee has worked for 5 years and the court rules it as unfair dismissal, the employee may receive an additional compensation of approximately 5 months’ salary). However, this rate may be increased or decreased depending on the circumstances and severity of each case.
Consult Labor Lawyers: Formulate a Strategy to Claim Rights Transparently When labor disputes arise or when forced out involuntarily, fighting a case in the Labor Court requires strategic thinking and strong evidence gathering—such as dismissal letters, performance evaluation records, or chat evidence—to prove the employee’s innocence and demonstrate the employer’s unfair behavior.
If you are experiencing termination issues in Bangkok, Ramkhamhaeng area, or Wang Thonglang, and need a legal advisor who is sincere, transparent, straightforward about case success chances, and clear in fee structure (Transparency), you can contact our team of Barrister-at-Law attorneys with over 15 years of labor litigation experience using the details below:
Office Location: No. 573/133 Ramkhamhaeng 39, Phlabphla Subdistrict, Wang Thonglang District, Bangkok 10310 (Conveniently accessible, near Ramkhamhaeng and Lat Phrao areas)
Hotline Phone Number: 09-6985-9545
Email for sending document details: info@yuttithamlaw.com
Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Termination and Severance Pay (FAQ)
Q: Forced by the employer to sign a resignation letter, can I still sue for unfair dismissal?
A: If the circumstances clearly show that the employer threatened, pressured, or harassed the employee so that they had no choice but to sign the resignation letter, in law, that resignation letter may be considered void and fall under constructive dismissal. The employee still retains the right to file a lawsuit with the Labor Court, but should prepare evidence such as audio recordings or pressure chat messages.
Q: If the company shuts down or lays off employees due to losses, is it considered unfair dismissal?
A: Closing a business due to an economic downturn or actual losses is considered a business necessity. The employer has the right to terminate employees, and it is not deemed unfair dismissal. However, the employer still has the duty to pay full statutory tenure-based severance pay and advance notice pay to employees according to the law and cannot refuse to pay.
