The new 120-day maternity leave has been announced. How will HR need to adapt in 2025?
“120 days of maternity leave” is a new right under the latest Labor Protection Act, which increases leave days for female employees , along with legal wages, to support postpartum mothers and Thai families. HR must update policies, benefits, and payroll systems to support the new calculation of rights to prevent discrepancies and risks related to labor law.
On September 15, 2025, the Senate approved the draft amendment to the Labor Protection Act (No. 9 ) B.E. 2025.
Increase maternity leave from 98 days → to 120 days to improve the quality of life for female workers and support Thai families to have time to care for their children during the crucial developmental period, which is the majority of the country’s population, with job security and a better quality of life.
This Act was published in the Royal Gazette on 7 November 2025 and came into effect from 7 December 2025 onwards.
What changes are there to the new 120-day maternity leave?
Eligible groups | Rights granted | wages |
female employees | Maternity leave is up to 120 days. | Received 60 days of wages |
Female employees (continuous childcare in case of illness/disability) | Additional 15 days of leave | Get 50% of your salary |
Spouse (father/legal spouse) | 15 days of paternity leave within 90 days before/after childbirth | Get paid 100% |
A new dimension in family welfare:
→ Mothers have more time to recover and care for their babies.
→ Father/spouse plays a part in caring
→ Infants are cared for during key developmental stages.
Because “childbirth” is not just a leave, but the most important time for a family.
Understanding HR helps create a warm and safe work culture.
And a good system will help people care without becoming a paperwork burden.
What are the impacts on the organization and what preparations must be made for HR?
effect | Things to do |
Employees take longer maternity leave | Plan your workforce and prepare for temporary replacements. |
Expenses and budget changes | Estimate welfare budget in advance |
Welfare structure needs improvement | Update employee handbooks/policies to comply with the law. |
HR/Payroll system must calculate according to new rights. | Adjust the system to properly support 50% / 100% payments. |
Calculate maternity leave without errors if there is an automatic management system.
To ensure that leave entitlement calculations are not incorrect, HR should use a system that can:
✔ Record leave days systematically
✔ Automatically calculate wages based on your rights (50%, 100%)
✔ Connect leave data → salary without having to re-enter.
✔ Can issue retrospective audit reports
COACH HCM makes HR’s job easier because:
- Automatically connect leave information with Payroll
- Wages during leave are calculated according to labor law principles.
- Can be traced back
Simply put, HR no longer has to worry about miscalculations.
Conclusion
Extending maternity leave to 120 days is a significant step for Thai workers, but it also presents a new challenge for all HR organizations to adapt to. If organizations have an HR & Payroll system that supports automatic calculations, managing benefits and budgets will be much easier and create a truly positive employee experience.
refer
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/89818.pdf
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Q&A: Frequently Asked Questions
1) An employee who has not completed 120 days of maternity leave but wants to return to work before the expiration date, is that possible???
A: Employees are entitled to a maximum of 120 days of maternity leave, but are not required to use all of their leave entitlements once they are ready to return to work.
Returning to work before the expiration date is possible, but must be voluntary for the employee and with the employer’s consent.
2) When maternity leave is completed for 120 days, but only receives wages from the employer for 60 days, where will the remaining money come from???
A: Employees will receive compensation from the Social Security Fund under the Social Security Fund Act. Currently, compensation is provided for 45 days, but the Social Security Office is considering increasing this to 60 days. Further announcements from the Social Security Office are pending.
3) The original law provided 98 days of maternity leave, including 8 days for pregnancy check-ups. When it was changed to 120 days, does that still include pregnancy check-ups???
Answer: The leave for pregnancy check-ups is still included in the 120 days.
4) Can a spouse who is not registered as married to his wife, but has a birth certificate or childbirth certificate stating that he is the father, use the right to 15 days of maternity leave to help his wife?
Answer: Yes, according to Section 65 of the Social Security Fund Act, insured persons are entitled to receive maternity benefits for both registered wives and women who openly cohabit as husband and wife.
Therefore, in cases where the marriage is not registered but the evidence clearly confirms that the marriage is de facto, this right can be used.
5) If an employee begins maternity leave before December 7, 2025 (the date the new law comes into effect), will they receive the rights under the new law???
Answer: If the maternity leave period covers December 7, 2025, or after that date, the employee is considered to have received the rights under the new Act, namely:
– Total maternity leave rights: 120 days
– Receive wages during leave not exceeding 60 days.
6) If the child born is sick or disabled, can the employee take additional leave and how will they be paid?
A: This new law has increased the rights for female employees whose children are born with illnesses, disabilities or abnormalities to take up to 15 days of continuous leave to care for their children, with a medical certificate.
Payment of Wages: The employer shall pay the employee wages for the leave to care for a sick child at the rate of 50% of the wages for that leave day.