Handbooks

Red

Our US based company has opened it's first overseas factory, in Thailand. We need to put together a handbook for that location. Is it safe to use one identical to one of our US factory handbooks or do I have to become an overnight expert in Thai laws?

PMI

I think it would be foolish not to become familiar with Thai laws, since your company will be held accountable for following them. I don't think you'll be able to win many points with a Thai judge by saying "but we didn't know that was illegal Your Honor!" If it were me, I'd find out the names of other US companies that do business in Thailand (and that are your size), and network with their HR departments. I'm sure they'd be willing to share information. You can probably get information from the US Government (DOL or Dept of Commerce, maybe??). Of course, I'm just winging it here. I saw nobody else has responded to your question, and thought I'd throw in my 2 cents -- Good luck!

Gillian

Correct. Assuming that your US handbook is written to reflect US and your state laws, you can make the next assumption that those laws don't exist in Thailand. Many people thing that California is a foreign country as well, and I constantly run into situations where someone in another state assumes that California regulations are no different than theirs and then they get into trouble.