LEGAL PROBLEMS IN PROTECTIMG SERVICE CONTRACTORS AS NATURAL PERSONS OF GOVERNMENT SECTOR

Abstract

           The employment of Service contractors considered as commoners or non-government servants, in compliance to Section 4 of the Public Procurement and Supplies Administration Act, B.E. 2560 (2017), decrees that contracting services be considered as a category of service and classified as supplies. The objective of such contracting services chiefly aiming at success and outcome of the contracted tasks is often viewed as a hire of work agreement. The contracting government agency holds no authority to control or require additional tasks not included in the agreement; however, the agency do possess an authority to inspect the task progress and request for improvement or correction in case of any irregularity found as the service contractor does not fall under the regulations that enforce regular employees to follow. The service compensation rates are not subject to the service contractor’s education qualification but the knowledge, ability, and experience needed for the task contracted. This can cause difficulties, comprising being exploited as well as lacking of job and social security, to service contractors providing services for government agencies because they are not under the protection of the Labour Protection Act B.E. 2541, Social Security Act B.E. 2533, and Compensation Act B.E. 2537. Therefore, to ensure fair legal protection, stability in life, exploitation-free work condition, and adequate social security as well as to provide and ensure the aforementioned employees’ basic rights in accordance to the objectives of the labour laws. It is crucial that the relevant laws be amended in order that the employing government agencies are considered as employers to the service contractors who are basically commoners. For instance, the legal protection for government contractors of the French Republic and the German Confederation is ideal. This will, in the future, lead to basic legal protection for their independent contractors, according to the goals and objectives of the International Labour Organization Convention