Global Mobility Tax

Thailand | Employee Welfare Fund (EWF) — a new mandatory pension fund scheme for employees working under Thai companies, starting on October 1, 2025

Summary

The Department of Labor Protection and Welfare launches The Employee Welfare Fund, a new financial support scheme for employees working under Thai companies. It requires Thai companies to participate in a mandatory pension fund scheme which will be implemented starting October 1, 2025.

The detail

The purpose of the fund is to ensure that employees who resign, retire, complete their employment contract, are terminated with or without cause, or pass away, will receive their accumulated contributions, the employer’s contributions, and the interest earned on those funds.

Summarized details are as follows:

Items	Details
Effective date	October 1, 2025
Contribution rate	Both Employees and Employers: – 0.25% of wages (Oct 1, 2025 – Sep 30, 2030) – 0.50% of wages (From Oct 1, 2030 onward or until further notice)
Remittance deadline	Employers must remit by the 15th of the following month
Surcharge for non-compliance	5% per month on unpaid or underpaid contributions

Who is obligated to make contributions to the Employee Welfare Fund?

All employees of Thai companies including expatriate employees who do not participate in Thai provident fund or other pension fund according to Ministerial Regulation Prescribing Criteria and Procedures for Providing Assistance to Employees in Cases of Resignation or Death, B.E. 2567 (2024).

We summarize the main fund systems to present the differences as shown in the table below.

Scenarios	Employee / employer contribution rates	Eligibility	Benefit / objective	Applicable Thai PIT deduction allowances
1. No fund	None	None	No retirement, welfare, or insurance benefits.	None
2. Provident fund	2-15% of wages	Employees with the company for a defined period	Long-term savings for retirement with investment return	Up to 15% of annual salary for employee’s contribution
3. Employee Welfare Fund (EWF)	0.25%-0.50% of wages	All eligible employees under the law	Provides financial support in case of job loss, death, or retirement.	N/A at this stage Depends on specific provisions from the Ministry of Finance
4. Company’s defined contribution fund / overseas contribution fund	Set percentage based on company’s policy / overseas fund	Employees eligible based on company or overseas policy	Provides retirement savings per policy	None

 Note for consideration:

• Compliance and cost effectiveness: It is necessary for the company to evaluate the pros and cons, as well as the necessity of each plan for their employees, to ensure compliance with applicable laws in Thailand.
• Are Overseas pension funds aligned with EWF requirements? Most of expatriate employees are already contributing to their home pension funds. It is important to assess whether these overseas pension funds meet the criteria set by the Ministerial Regulation to ensure compliance and avoid potential issues.

We advise you to:

• Review the newly launched Employee Welfare Fund (EWF) and assess whether your employees are required to contribute under the current regulations.
• Evaluate your company’s existing defined / overseas contribution plan to determine whether it meets the criteria set forth by the EWF, and to ensure there is no duplication of contributions especially for your expatriate employees. Conducting a detailed review of those fund structures to determine its needful.
• Ensure timely registration with the EWF for all eligible employees, if required by law.

Contact us

For a deeper discussion on the above, please reach out to your Vialto Partners point of contact, or alternatively:

Jiraporn Chongkamanont
Partner

Natchanond Charoenmechaikul
Senior Manager

Apaporn Trakarnratti
Manager

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