Problems of Protecting the Rights of Heirs of Beneficiaries under the Workmen’s Compensation Act

Abstract

         This research project – A Study on Related Problems of Protecting the Rights of Heirs of Beneficiaries under the Workmen’s Compensation Act – aims to study the protection of the rights of heirs of beneficiaries under the Workmen’s Compensation Act B.E. 2537 (Amendment Act B.E. 2561) by looking at related problems due to the requirement of law that grant benefits to heirs of workmen who suffered work-related injury or illness, specifically heirs that are workmen’s children, as per Article 20(3) and (4), though qualitative using the  documentary research method.

          The result reveals that Article 20(3) of the Workmen’s Compensation Act B.E. 2537 (Amendment Act B.E. 2561) stipulates that workmen’s children are entitled to receive benefits from the Workmen’s Compensation Fund when workmen suffer work-related injury and illness, as well as death and disappearance. In this regard, the law further stipulates that children under 18 years of age are entitled to receive benefits without considering whether they attend any educational institutions as students, or they have dropped out and are now workmen, or they have dropped out and are now unemployed. Regardless of their situation, children under 18 years of age will receive the benefit. On the contrary, if the workmen’s children are over 18 years of age, they will not be entitled to receive the benefit unless they are currently attending any educational institutions as students for bachelor’s degrees or lower-level degrees. And they will continue to receive the benefit until they complete their bachelor’s degrees. However, this study reveals that there are many people over 18 years old who do not have the opportunity to attend higher-level education programs due to various reasons. Therefore, the author recommends that children should be given the opportunity to make the decision regarding their future, whether to drop out and start working or to remain in school, and their decision should be taken into consideration when granting benefits under the Workmen Compensation Fund. On the other hand, regarding Article 20 (4), in which the law stipulates that children who suffer from physical disabilities or mental disorders when they turn 18 years old will continue to be eligible to receive the benefit only if they are recognized as dependents of workmen before they die or disappear. Moreover, if these children no longer suffer from the aforementioned conditions, Paragraph Two of Article 21 stipulates that they will no longer be eligible to receive the benefit. In this regard, the author recommends that people with disabilities should be treated equally, as per the principle of rights of people with disabilities and the country’s constitution, since it is rarely possible that people with disabilities will ever recover from their conditions, considering the causes of such disabilities.

          In summary, the author recommends that amendment to Article 20 should be made to Article 20 (3/2) of the Workmen’s Compensation Act B.E. 2537, that is, children over 18 years old who are not attending any educational institutions should continue to be eligible to receive the benefit for another 6 months. Moreover, if they choose to attend any educational institutions as students for bachelor’s degrees or lower-level degrees within the period of 6 months previously mentioned, then they will continue to be eligible to receive the benefit until they complete the bachelor’s degrees. Secondly, the author recommends that amendment should be made to provisions regarding the rights of children with disabilities under Article 20 (4), in order to make the benefit available to children over 18 years old who suffer from physical disabilities or mental disorders, regardless of whether they are recognized as dependents of workers before they die or disappear. Lastly, the author recommends that an amendment should be made to the end of Paragraph Two of Article 21 so it includes the following: ‘once children are no longer possess the qualifications described under Article 20 (4) and they are recognized as dependents of other persons or they are able to work on their own.’