Taking some risk out of work

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Taking some risk out of work

By Penchan Charoensuthipan, the Bangkok Post News
October 3, 2003

The Labour Ministry has said all workers, self-employed and company employees, will be covered by the Social Security Fund by Jan 1, 2005 . Not everyone is convinced.

The Labour Ministry has a little over a year to prove it is as good as its word by placing all workers now without job welfare under the social security system.

Labour groups laud the plan, disclosed by Labour Minister Suwat Liptapanlop at a recent seminar well attended by workers not covered by the welfare scheme, but question the government's sincerity. Mr Suwat's promise to bring them into the scheme by Jan 1, 2005 seems too convenient, as the date coincides roughly with the next scheduled election.

Workers without any form of insurance have been calling for social security coverage since 1998.

Pairoj Suksamrit, secretary-general for social security, said his agency would spend the next year gathering information on workers outside the system, designing welfare packages for them and figuring out how much they will have to contribute to the Social Security Fund. The Labour Ministry has asked the private Thailand Development Research Institute to study social security patterns that would best respond to the needs of self-employed workers in terms of benefits and to ensure that contributions to the Social Security Fund do not become a financial burden on them.

The TDRI findings and the ministry's own efforts will be discussed at public hearings before being submitted to the cabinet for endorsement, Mr Pairoj said. He believes everything should be ready for implementation by Jan 1, 2005 .

Around 35.19 million people make up Thailand 's workforce, but only 7.45 million, or 21.17%, receive social security cover, according to the Labour Ministry. The other 23 million include taxi and tuk-tuk drivers, fishermen, farmers, contract workers, people who work from home, housekeepers and self-employed doctors and dentists.

Social Security Fund members now receive cover in case of sickness, disability, death, maternity leave, child support or retirement. Unemployment benefits will be introduced on Jan 1, 2004 .

Pawadee Thong-uthai, economist at Thammasat University , said workers not covered by social security generally earn less than those in the formal system, and they may have problems contributing to the Social Security Fund because their income fluctuates.

Many take jobs that may be hazardous to their health but they cannot afford any health or life insurance. Ms Pawadee said dressmakers, for example, often suffer eye-strain and backache but cannot stop work and have no-one to pay their medical expenses.

A study found that 70% of people hired to make goods at home earn less than 30,000 baht a year, despite working long hours, she said, and these people are poorly informed on ways to protect their health.

Ms Pawadee believes the process of protecting people who are not Social Security Fund members will take time, and so the Labour Ministry should seek to amend the Social Security Act to increase welfare benefits for self-insured people.

Few self-employed contribute to the fund as the benefits are limited to cases of death, disability and child birth, while people mainly need cover for medical treatment, she said.

Wilaiwan sae Tia, chair of the Women Labour Integration Group, said protecting ``outsiders'' made ``insiders'' safer. Employers often use people outside the social security system because they do not have to pay welfare. As businesses look to cut wage and welfare benefit costs, they threaten the job security of those on the payroll.

``Many outsiders were covered by the social security system in the past but had been laid off,'' she said. ``They still have to make a living but this is often in much worse working conditions, for lower wages and with zero employment protection.''

Rakawin Leechanawanichpan, of the Study Centre for Development of Homeworkers, said extending welfare cover to workers outside the system would extend the lifeline of the Social Security Fund. The Fund is expected to suffer from reduced contributions as a large number of its members have been forced out of their jobs by employers.

Mrs Rakawin said the Social Security Office should not be overly concerned whether independent workers could contribute regularly to the Fund, as this risk could be managed through increasing awareness of work safety and health promotion and greater protection for contributors.

Worries about this risk might encourage the office to put contribution rates out of reach of most workers. If so, and if benefits do not fit the workers' needs, those not covered by the scheme will opt for alternatives such as the 30-baht medical care, Mrs Rakawin said.

She said 80% of people outside the system want social security cover, particularly for medical care and retirement. Most could pay 100-200 baht a month to the Fund. Homeworkers, farmers and tuk-tuk and taxi drivers were ready to join the system.

``Including these people in the social security system would reduce the future burden on the state in caring for the elderly,'' Mrs Rakawin said. ``These people have the right to good health and to money to support themselves when they are old.''

Problems remain however,

Mrs Rakawin doubts the scheme will be ready to cover the self-employed by Jan 1, 2005 , given that the government will need time to decide if it will have to contribute to the fund in line with the principle of social security.

Already the Social Security Office has failed to guarantee all employees welfare protection, she said. A cabinet resolution requiring businesses employing a single person to contribute to the Fund took effect in April 2002. This should have added 3.59 million workers to the 5.93 million existing subscribers, but in fact only 960,000 people were brought under the scheme.

``There are still a lot of employees out there without any cover,'' she said.

Mrs Rakawin said risk management was essential as there were high-risk groups _ workers suffering from chronic illnesses and whose careers are hazardous to their health _ joining the system.

If the Labour Ministry cannot meet its Jan 1, 2005 deadline then, she said, workers could exercise their constitutional right to propose their own draft amendment bill to the Social Security Act through a campaign requiring the signature of at least 50,000 eligible voters.