Pregnancy ban overturned

11 พฤศจิกายน 2557

Getting pregnant is officially OK again in the Rajavithi Hospital pharmacy after an order to female staff to take birth-control pills created a public outcry.

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The notice says: "From Oct 30, 2014 to Dec 31, 2015, all female staff must take birth-control pills (pregnancy is prohibited). Anyone who gets pregnant will be asked to leave." (Khaosod Online photo)

'No pregnancies, please'

Online Reporters

An internal memo at a state hospital in Bangkok asking staff to take birth control pills has created a clamour after it went viral on Sunday.

The notice on an A4 printout said: "From Oct 30, 2014 to Dec 31, 2015, all female staff must take birth-control pills (pregnancy is prohibited). Anyone who gets pregnant will be asked to leave."

Under the text, more than 25 staff members signed their names to acknowledge it.

As soon as the memo was captured on camera and uploaded on a Facebook page, it drew strong criticism as a blatant violation of human rights.

On Monday, Udom Chaovarin, director of Rajavithi Hospital, admitted the memo came from the pharmacy department of his facility.

He said he had scrapped the memo and issued a warning to the person putting it up.

He explained it was an internal message and was by no means the hospital's policy. The pharmacy department had always been shorthanded due to frequent maternity leaves, he said.

He said he had talked to the department chief, who explained it was intended to be "a plea for cooperation" among the department's staff.

"In any case, the act is unconstitutional," Dr Udom said.

"So many maternity leaves had affected the department so it was agreed at a meeting the staff would be asked to cooperate. The method, however, infringed on their rights. We have settled this and the memo was scrapped.

Pregnancy is allowed and the department will have to find other ways to cope with the staff shortage and report to management," Dr Udom told the Daily News.

Earlier on Monday, human rights commissioner Visa Benjano said the Human Rights Commission had looked into the issue and would invite related parties to explain how such an act violated the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Under the Thai labour law, a worker can take maternity leave before and after the birth for not more than 90 days in total including holidays. The employer must pay her the normal wage for not more than 45 days.

If she is a member of the Social Security Fund, she also gets pay from it for the remaining 45 days of the leave.

If she is a civil servant, as in the case of the Rajavithi Hospital, she may also take a personal leave to look after the baby for another 150 days without pay and promotion eligibility for that year.