Monthly contributions by salaried employees to the Social Security Fund will be further cut for two months to 0.5% of their salaries from a reduced rate of 3% previously.
Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said on Monday the cabinet had approved the deduction for February and March as part of its Covid-19 relief measures.
Employers, meanwhile, will continue to contribute 3% over the next two months, a reduction from 5% approved on Jan 19.
Mr Suchart did not mention whether the rate for the government’s contribution to the three-way fund would also be reduced from 2.75%.
Under normal circumstances, the contribution is capped at 750 baht a month based on the maximum salary of 15,000 baht. The new cap will be 75 baht a month for employees after the temporary deduction.
The further deduction for employees came after the cabinet last week approved cuts in the monthly contributions for both employees and employers to 3% from 5%, or up to 450 baht a month.
The insured — all employees aged 15-60 in the system — and their employers each contribute 5% of the base salaries, ranging from 1,650 to not more than 15,000 baht a month, while the government contributes 2.75%.
The government, however, still owed the fund 96.4 billion baht as of Sept 30, 2019, according to the Fiscal Policy Office’s fiscal risk statement for fiscal 2019.
The coverage is divided into seven categories: sickness, maternity, disability, death, child allowance, old age and unemployment.
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