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)
By Terry Fredrickson
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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'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.
Vocabulary
acknowledge: to let someone know you have received something or the you understand what it is - รับทราบ
act: an action - การกระทำ
admit: to agree that something is true, especially when you are unhappy, sorry or surprised about it - ยอมรับ
blatant: obvious or open, not hidden โจ่งแจ้ง โอ้อวด อึกทึก - โจ่งแจ้ง โอ้อวด อึกทึก
by no means: is not true -
civil servant: someone who works for a government department - ข้าราชการ
clamour: making a loud noise and/or a request by many people that needs action now -
commission: a group of people who have been formally chosen to discover information about a problem or examine the reasons why the problem exists - คณะกรรมการ, คณะกรรมาธิการ
commissioner: a member of a commission; a group of people who have been formally chosen to discover information about a problem or examine the reasons why the problem exists - กรรมาธิการ ผู้ได้รับมอบหมายอำนาจหน้าที่
convention: an official agreement between countries or leaders - สนธิสัญญ, ข้อตกลง
cooperation: a situation in which people or organisations work together to achieve a result that will benefit all of them - การร่วมมือกัน
cope with: to deal successfully with a difficult situation or job - จัดการกับปัญหา แก้ปัญหา
criticism: comments that show that you think something is wrong or bad - การวิจารณ์
discrimination: the practice of treating someone or a particular group in society less fairly than others - การเลือกปฏิบัติ, การแบ่งแยก
drew (past of draw): attracted - ดึงดูด
due to: because of - เนื่องจาก
eligibility: the condition of being able to have or do something because you have the right qualifications, are the right age, etc - การมีสิทธิเข้ารับเลือก, ความมีสิทธิ์จะได้รับเลือก, ความเหมาะสม
elimination: removing or getting rid of something/somebody - การกำจัด
employer: a person, company, or organisation that pays someone to work for them as a member of their staff - นายจ้าง
facility: a building used for a particular purpose - โรงงาน, สถานบริการ, สิ่งก่อสร้าง, สิ่งอำนวยความสะดวก
female: being a woman or a girl - สตรี, ผู้หญิง, เพศหญิ
frequent: happening often - เกิดขึ้นบ่อย
fund: money provided for something - เงินทุน กองทุน
human rights: the basic rights which it is generally considered all people should have, such as justice and the freedom to say what you think - สิทธิมนุษยชน
in any case: whatever happens or may have happened - ไม่ว่าจะเกิดอะไรก็ตาม
infringe on: to take away some of a person’s rights or to limit their freedom - ล่วงละเมิด, ละเมิด
intended: planned; wanted to happen - ที่ได้วางแผนไว้ ที่ตั้งใจให้เกิดขึ้น
internal: existing or happening inside a person, object, organisation, place or country - ภายใน
invite: to ask somebody to come to a social event; to ask somebody formally to go somewhere or do something - เชิญ
issue: a problem that needs to be considered - ประเด็น
issue: to officially give out - ออก
maternity leave: time off from work given to a mother of a new baby -
memo: an official note from one person to another in the same organisation - กระดาษจดบันทึก, บันทึก, โน้ต
method: a particular way of doing something - วิธีการ,วิธีดำเนินการ
normal: typical, usual or ordinary; what you would expect - ปกติ, ภาวะปกติ
party: one of the people or groups of people involved in an official argument, arrangement or similar situation - คู่กรณี
pharmacy: the scientific study of methods of preparing medicines and drugs used for treating medical conditions - เภสัชกรรม
plea: an urgent and emotional request - คำร้อง, คำขอ, คำขอร้อง, คำวิงวอน
pregnancy: the state of being pregnant, having a baby developing inside - การตั้งท้อง
pregnant: having a baby developing inside the body - ท้อง ตั้งครรภ์
prohibit: to not allow; to ban - ห้าม
promotion: moving to a job at a higher level - การเลื่อนตำแหน่ง
rights: the basic rights which it is generally considered all people should have, such as justice and the freedom to say what you think - สิทธิ
scrapped: decided not to continue with something, such as a plan or event - ยุติแผนที่วางไว้
settle: to end a dispute or disagreement, in this case, forcefully - ขจัดให้เสร็จสิ้น, จัดการ
shortage: when there is not enough of something - การขาดแคลน
shorthanded: not having as many workers or people who can help as you need - ซึ่งขาดกำลังคน
social security: money that the government pays regularly to people who are poor, unemployed, sick, etc - สวัสดิการสังคม,ระบบการประกันสังคม
staff: all the workers employed by a person or organisation considered as a group - คณะผู้ทำงาน, คนงาน
state: government - รัฐบาล
unconstitutional: against the rules stated in the constitution - ไม่เป็นไปตามรัฐธรรมนูญ
violate: to do something that is against a law, rule or agreement - ฝ่าฝืน, ละเมิด
violation: an action that is against a law, agreement, principle, etc. - การฝ่าฝืน
viral: (of a video, photo, story, etc.) spread across the internet very quickly (like a virus spreading a disease) as people share it with their friends or the news media reports on it - แพร่กระจายผ่านทางอินเทอร์เน็ตอย่างรวดเร็ว
wage: an amount of money that you earn for working, usually according to how many hours or days you work each week or month - ค่าจ้าง
warning: an action or statement telling someone of a possible problem or danger - คำเตือน, การเตือน
