Criteria for payments to laid-off workers to be reviewed

Workers verified by the department as qualifying for the scheme will be paid by the Social Security Office, which would require approval, he said.
In the meantime, the department will negotiate with employers to pay salaries to laid-off workers, he said, ruling out the possibility of a million people losing their jobs because of the floods.
Phadermchai did not give details on why the newly approved policy might not take off.
Workers have expressed concern that they will not be rehired by employers whose businesses resume after flood rehabilitation. Woodlock Co based in Pathum Thani has not announced whether it will rehire a large number of its workers, while Casio Thailand Co in the same province announced it would close by January 31, laying off 1,333 workers.
A meeting was held yesterday at the ministry to help workers negotiate with their employers over unpaid salaries, while attempting to secure post-flood employment. A total of 266 businesses in Pathum Thani have agreed to rehire 110,118 workers. There are 3,986 vacancies in 57 positions with 50 companies in the province, the convention announced.
In related news, about 1,000 workers of Siam Food Supply Co yesterday gathered to protest against Wutthichai Rungwitwithun, manager of the company’s human resources department.
They claimed Wutthichai told Muang Samut Paknam Hospital not to issue medical certificates to almost 100 workers who had undergone treatment there. As a result, they were unable to obtain reimbursement for their medical expenses.
The manager later denied telling the hospital not to issue the certificates, saying the incident was a misunderstanding between the hospital and the company.
The protesters demanded the company dismiss the manager, increase their wages according to length of employment, and provide better welfare conditions, otherwise they would resign en masse.