The Legal Basics of Hiring a Nanny or Maid in Thailand: What Expat Employers Should Know (2026)

A quick note: Thai rules change fairly often, so take this as an up-to-date-for-2026 overview and keep an eye on the latest. It's the practical baseline expat families use to agree fair, clear terms with their nanny or maid — a starting point for a good conversation, not a rulebook to enforce word-for-word.

When you bring a nanny or maid into your home, you're the employer — and Thailand has a clear set of norms for what that involves. The framework was refreshed in 2024, so a lot of older advice is now out of date. Here's the current version in plain language, and how to turn it into a fair arrangement everyone's happy with.

A domestic worker is anyone working in or for a household: nanny, maid, cook, carer, driver, or house security. A foreigner employing a Thai national is completely normal and allowed. In real life, few Thai households follow every rule to the letter — but these standards are the fair baseline to agree on together with your helper, and settling them up front is what keeps things smooth and avoids trouble later.

Thai law leans toward giving workers clear, written terms — and in practice a written agreement protects both sides. Set out, ideally in Thai and English:

• Start date, duties and scope
• Working hours and rest days
• Pay amount and payday
• Any probation period
• Notice for ending the job

This is the big 2024 change. Domestic workers used to be excluded from minimum wage — since 2024 they're covered. The Bangkok minimum wage is now 400 THB/day (2026) — it rose to 400 in mid-2025 — and live-in arrangements must meet the same floor.

A note on deductions: pay deductions are capped — generally no more than 10% for any one category and 20% of the pay in total.

Also new since 2024:

• Up to 8 hours a day, with a 1-hour break, and a 48-hour week maximum
• Overtime pay for hours beyond that
• At least one full rest day every week

• 13 paid public holidays a year (including National Labour Day, 1 May)
• 6 paid annual-leave days after one full year of service
• Up to 30 paid sick days — for three or more days in a row, you can ask for a medical certificate

On paper (since the 2024 update), a domestic worker is entitled to 98 days of maternity leave, with the first 45 days paid by you, the employer (the rest unpaid — and because household workers are outside social security, there's no top-up like company staff get). You also can't dismiss someone for being pregnant, and a pregnant worker shouldn't do night shifts (22:00–06:00), overtime or holidays.

In real life, though, it doesn't often play out as "45 paid days, then straight back to work." These arrangements are usually informal and cash-based, and in Thailand heading home to your province to give birth is completely natural — that's where family and support are. So when a pregnancy comes up, it's usually met with an early, gentle chat: quite often the nanny herself decides to go home, and may well settle into family life there rather than return.

What warm, sensible families tend to do is simply talk it through early, part on good terms, and send her off with a goodwill thank-you — a lump sum, or her usual bonus — rather than making it about the rules. Then you find someone new for the next chapter. It's the kind, natural way it's handled here — and helping you find that next person is exactly where we come in.

This one trips a lot of families up. Unlike most employees, household workers are excluded from Thailand's social security system — so there's generally no employer social-security registration for a nanny or maid. (Thai staff can access public healthcare through the national scheme; foreign staff are covered via the health insurance tied to their work permit.) If you want health cover for your helper, many families arrange private insurance by agreement.

When employment ends, give one pay-cycle of notice, and settle the final pay within three days of the last working day — including pay for up to six annual-leave days not yet taken.

Statutory severance pay — the tiered schedule you may have seen for company employees — generally does not apply to domestic workers under the domestic-work regulation, so you don't owe those company-employee amounts. That said, many families choose to give a long-serving helper a fair thank-you when they move on — that's a goodwill call, and something to agree kindly together.

You'll often hold copies of your helper's ID and household registration. Thailand's personal-data law (PDPA, in force since 2022) applies — keep those documents secure and don't share them with third parties.

As an expat employer in Thailand you're held to the same core standards as any employer: fair pay (minimum wage now included), reasonable hours with a weekly rest day, paid public holidays and leave, and a clean, written agreement. Social security is the notable exception — domestic workers are excluded.

Getting the paperwork right at the start prevents almost every dispute later. On the Hello Nanny Plus app you can find and message candidates directly, and if you'd like a hand with the hiring paperwork, talk to our team — we help expat families set things up properly from day one.

One last thing: Thai rules do change from time to time, so keep an eye on the latest. Use this as the basis to agree clear, fair terms with your helper — that's what really prevents problems. And if you'd like a hand setting it up, that's exactly what we're here for.

Related reading: How to Hire a Nanny or Maid in Bangkok · Finding a Babysitter in Bangkok