Summary Vietnamese Labour Law

Summary Vietnamese Labour law

 

1. No prison or forced labor

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, paragraph 2, Article 5 that maltreatment of workers and the use if forced labor in any form shall be prohibited

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 9, the employment relationship between workers and employers shall be established and developed through negotiations and agreement on the principles of voluntary, equality, co-operation, respect of each other’s lawful rights and interests, and full observance of commitments.

2. No Child Labor

Minimum Age

In accordance with Vietnam Labor Law, Article 6, the minimum age for workers is 15 for all industries.

Record Keeping

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 119 at places where young workers (under 18 years old) are employed, separate records shall be kept mentioning in full the name, date of birth, work assigned and results of periodic health checks.

3. Working Hours

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 122 the hours of work for young workers shall not exceed 7 hours per day or 42 hours per week.

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 119 states that young workers are workers under 18 years of age.

4. Harassment/discipline

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 5, maltreatment of workers is prohibited.

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 8, Section 3, employers have the obligation to respect the workers’ honor and dignity, and to treat workers correctly.

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 111, Section 1, all acts by employer to offend female workers’ dignity and honor are strictly prohibited.

5. Nondiscrimination

In accordance the Vietnam Labor Law, with Article 5, Section 1, every person shall have the right to work, to chose freely the type of work or trade and to improve professional skills without any discrimination in respect of sex, race, social belonging, creed, or religion.

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 9 indicates that the labor relationship between workers and employers shall be established and developed through negotiations and agreement on the principles of voluntariness, equality, co-operation, respect for each other's lawful rights and interests, and full observance of commitment.

Accoding to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 111, Section 1, the employer must implement the principle of equality between men and women in respect of recruitment, employment, advancement in wage grades, and remuneration.

 

6. Freedom of association

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 153, in order to represent and defend the rights and interests of workers and their labor collectives, the Federation of Labor at the provincial level shall set up trade union organizations in every enterprise, not later than six months from the date of commencement of operations in the case of newly established enterprises.

Collective bargaining

According to Point 1 of Article 44 of the Vietnam Labor Code, a collective labor agreement is a written agreement completed between the workers’ collective and the employer concerning conditions of work and employment, and the rights and interests of each party to the labor relationship. A collective agreement shall be negotiated and concluded by the representative of the labor collective (employees) and the employer in accordance with the principles of voluntariness, equality and openness to the public.

7. Health and Safety

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 95 the employer shall be responsible for providing adequate means of protection to the employees, ensuring occupational safety and health, and improving the working conditions of the employees.

H&S regulation Posting

According to Article 3 point 1, Government Decrees No. 06/ND-CP dated on January 20, 1995 (Amended December 27, 2002) regarding Occupational safety and hygiene requirements; Occupational safety and hygiene criteria and procedures are mandatory. On the basis of occupational safety and hygiene criteria and procedures promulgated by the State or a branch concerned, an employer must prepare occupational safety and hygiene rules for each particular machinery, equipment, and material item, and internal rules on occupational safety and hygiene for the work place.

Personal Protective Equipment

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 101, workers engaged in dangerous and harmful work (i.e. toxic work) must be provided with protective clothing, PPE, allowances in kind and other preferential treatment as regards to hours of work and rest.

According to Section 1, Article 95 of Vietnam Labor Law, the employer shall be responsible for providing adequate means of protection to the workers, ensuring occupational safety and health, and improving the working conditions of the workers.

According the part 7, Section III, Circular 10/1998/BLDTBXH of Ministry of Labor dated on May 28, 1998 regarding personal protective requirement. Workers are required to use personal protective equipment provided while working.

Protective Machine Guards

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 98 regarding mechanical safety, the employer must ensure that machinery, equipment, workshop and storehouses are checked and repaired periodically in accordance with occupational safety and health standard.

Dangerous Chemicals

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 97, the employer shall ensure that the workplace meets the prescribed standards on space, ventilation, light, and the health standards permitted in respect of dust, emanation, toxic gas, radioactivity, electromagnetic field, heat, humidity, noise, vibration, and other harmful elements. Such elements must be periodically checked and measured. At workplaces holding dangerous and harmful elements likely to cause occupational accidents, the employer must provide appropriate technical and medical facilities, and personal protective equipment (“PPE”) to ensure prompt rescue in case of emergencies or accidents.

Chemical

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 96, section 2 the production, utilization, maintenance and transportation of machines, equipment, materials, energy, electricity, chemicals, fertilizers, herbicides, raticides, the change of technologies and importation of new technologies must be done in conformity with the norms of labour safety and labour sanitation. The production or importation of machines, equipment, materials and substances requiring a high level of labour safety and sanitation must be declared and registered and have the licenses of the State inspection offices on labour safety or labour sanitation.

Fire Fighting

According to the Government Decision 35/2003/ND-CP dated on April 4, 2003 providing guidance on the Vietnam Law of Fire Fighting and Prevention, Article 9, Point 1, regarding Conditions on fire safety for enterprises;

An enterprise is located on a specific location, which has people working in, shall be ensured the following conditions are included;

- Enterprise must set up; fire safety regulation, restriction signs, notify signs, evacuation plans applicable with the size and enterprise’s operational condition;

- Set up a policy and assigned personnel responsible for fire fighting and prevention in the enterprise;

- Set up a fire fighting plan and fire escape plan which have certified by the authority agency.

- Ensure electricity wiring, machineries using electricity, equipments against thunderbolt are incompliance with the fire safety standards.

- Establish fire safety procedures applicable with specific working condition of individual enterprise;

- Establish the fire fighting team with well trained, which is always available at enterprise for any case of fire;

- Install fire alarm, fire fighting equipments, fire prevention equipments, and other applicable fire fighting equipments meet the requirement;

- Maintain onsite all documentations regarding fire fighting and prevention in accordance with the requirement;

Fire inspection

According to the Government Decision 35/2003/ND-CP dated on April 4, 2003 providing guidance on the Vietnam Law of Fire Fighting and Prevention, Article 19, Point 2 regarding fire fighting plans, equipments and fire prevention inspection; All fire fighting plans, equipments and fire prevention must be checked frequently, on timely basic and unscheduled inspection.

Fire drill training

According to the Government Decision 35/2003/ND-CP dated on April 4, 2003 providing guidance on the Vietnam Law of Fire Fighting and Prevention, Article 22, Point 5a, The person who set up and responsible for fire fighting plans shall conduct the fire drill training at least one a year and on unscheduled training upon requested

First Aid

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 103, the business has the responsibility to organize healthcare for the laborers and must give first aid and emergency aid to the laborers when necessary.

According to Circular 09/2000/BYT of the Ministry of Health dated on April 28, 2000, provides guidance on health care for workers in medium and small enterprises, Section III, Point 3 as follow; the employer shall be responsible for (well organized on) first aid activities in the enterprise. The person in charge for first aid must be trained and obtain qualified certificate from the Provincial Centre for Medical Prevention, or District Center for Medical. Each work floor shall be provide with first aid kits with content and side as follow (ANNEX 2); One first aid kit is provided to every 25 workers and the items in the first aid kit shall be including; 2 adhesive roll bandages, 2 grid rolls -5 x 200cm, 2 average bandage roll -10 x 200cm, 1 larger bandage roll -15 x 200cm, 5 cotton balls (packet), 3 triangular bandages (units), 1 scissors, 2 disposal gloves or latex (pair), 1 anti-toxic appropriate facemask, 1 hydrogen peroxide, 1 antiseptic cleansing agents, and 1 first aid procedures (CFR Procedure).

Health examinations

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 102, in recruiting and arranging labor the labor user shall based himself on the health criteria for each type of work. He must organize training, guidance, and inform the laborer of the regulations and measures of safety and sanitation and the possibilities of accident to be prevented in the work of each laborer. The laborer must be given a health check during the recruitment and periodical health checks according to the prescribed regime. The cost of health checks for the laborer is borne by the labor user.

According to Circular 13/BYT-TT of the Ministry of Health dated on October 24, 1996 regarding medical check up for workers. Point 3.2.2, every year, the employer must organize a medical check up for all workers including training and probation workers. For those who work in hard & harmful conditions must have one medical check up for every 6 months. The employer must establish the health monitoring books for all workers. All medical check up expenses will be paid by employer.

Hard& Harmful jobs in Apparel

According to Decision No. 1629/LDTBXH-QD dated December 26, 1996 and Decision No. 1152/2003/ QÐ-BLÐTBXH dated September 18, 2003 by Ministry of Labor-War Invalids-Social Affairs regarding to the temporary list of hard, harmful, dangerous works, and special hard, harmful, dangerous works, hand knitting work, sewing and button sewing, cutting works in the garment industry are classified as hard and harmful work.

Hard & Harmful jobs in Footwear

According to Decision 190/1999/QD-BLDTBXH dated on March 3, 1999 of the Ministry of Labor regarding list of jobs in footwear industry that classified as dangerous, hard and harmful work including; vacuum drier, leather polisher, shoe former machine operator, paint on leather, chemical mixer, glue sticker, and industrial machines maintenance.

Health room

According to the Circular 14/1998/TTLT of Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Health and Vietnam Labor Federation, Section 3, point 3.1(a and b), all enterprises must establish a department or person in charge of health care of the enterprise, and be attended on all worked hours in the enterprise. The number of staff or their occupation up to the enterprise dimension;

b. Point b: The enterprises have less harmful elements are applied as follow.

- The enterprises which have lesser than 300 employees, shall be attended at least a nurse looking after employee’s health care.

- The enterprises, which have from 300 to 500 employees, shall be attended at least one physian and one nurse.

- The enterprises which have from 501 to 1,000 employees shall be attended at least a Doctor and a nurse.

- The enterprises which have over 1,000 employees shall be established a clinic with Doctors and nurses in the enterprise.

Canteen/food license

According to The State Law article 28, point 2 of Food Hygienic and Safety No.12/2003Pl-UBTVQH11 dated on July 26, 2003. Enterprise or Private own who dealing with the high risk of food safety have to be authorized and certified by the Local Authority Agency.

According to Decision No.163/2004/ND-CP, Article 15, Point 1, dated September 7, 2004 by the Vietnamese Government to guide the implementation of some articles regarding the State law of food hygiene and safety. Organizations, family, and private business that trade in high risk food poisoning have to submit relevant document to the authorized government agencies for obtaining qualified certificate about trading in high risk food poisoning.

According to Decision No.163/2004/ND-CP, Article 34, dated September 7, 2004 by the Vietnamese Government to guide the implementation of some articles regarding the State law of food hygiene and safety. Organizations, family, and private business which trade in food service have the responsibility to implement guidance, requirements about food hygiene and safety, and to keep food sample in 24 hours for inspection purpose.

According to Decision 4128/ 2001/ QD-BYT, dated November 03, 2001 by the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, and also according to Point A and F of Article 1 of Regulations on hygiene, safety and maintenance of foods provided by companies’ canteen and kitchen, or ready – made foods supplying businesses dated November 03, 2001, the position of the kitchen, or canteen must have good safe & hygienic environments, and must be separated from other sources of contamination or pollution; and the sewage system at the cooking area or at the kitchen must be clean and drained, and food staff must be trained on food safety and hygiene.

Also according to Point 8 of the Guidance 037 of HCMC Center for Medical Reserve, dated January 23, 2002, regarding temporary guidance on keeping food samples at businesses, food samples must be kept for at least 24 hours.

Food Hygienic

According to Decree No. 4128/2001/QD-BYT, dated October 3, 2001of the Ministry of Health providing the guidances of standards of food safety and hygiene at collective kitchens, canteens and businesses trading in ready-made food in General Provision Section II, Point 4, as follow;

a. Collective kitchens, canteens and businesses have to submit water sample for testing to Medical Prevention Center at least once a quarter (3 months).

b. Using food additives, food color out of the approved list of food additives of the Ministry of Health is prohibited.

c. Using rotten, broken, spoiled food materials for preparing food is prohibited.

d. Well-done food must be covered to prevent from houseflies, dust, and other kinds of insect.

Hygienic Training

According to Decree No. 4128/2001/QD-BYT dated October 3, 2001of the Ministry of Health providing the guidance of standards of food safety and hygiene at collective kitchens, canteens and businesses trading in ready-made food in General Provision Section II, Point 2, as follow;

a. The cooks and food staff serving food have to attend a training course on food safety and hygiene and have responsibilities of their works.

b. The cooks and food staff must be received medical check-ups prior to hiring, and medical check-ups are provided for the cooks and food staff at least once a year after hiring.

c. Canteen staff's clothing and personal things are not allowed to place in the food processing area.

d. Every food staffs have to keep personal hygiene, cut nail, and wash hands before preparing food, serving, and selling well-done food.

e. Food staffs have to use tools to divide food when delivering. Using bared hands to divide food is prohibited.

f. Food processing staffs are not allowed to eat and drink, chew chewing gum, smoke cigarette in the kitchen.

8. Wages and benefits

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 55, the wage of a worker is agreed upon between the parties to the labor contract and paid according to the productivity, quality and efficiency of the work performed. The wage of a worker must not be lower than the minimum wage rates regulated by the State.

Minimum wage – Local investment

According to Government Decree 167/2007/ND-CP regarding minimum wage in local investment enterprises effected from January 1, 2008 are as follow:

1. Level 626,000VND/month for enterprieses located in urban districts of Ho Chi Minh and Ha Noi

2. Level 580,000VND/month for enterprieses located in suburban districts of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi,; Ha Long City (Quang Ninh); Bien Hoa City (Dong Nai); Long Khanh Town; Nhon Trach, Long Thanh, Vinh Cuu and Trang Bom of Dong Nai Province; Thu Dau Mot town, Thuan An, Di An, Ben Cat, and Tan Uyen Districts of Binh Duong Province; Vung tau City of Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province

3. Level 540,000VND/month applies to others regions

Minimum wage - Foreign Investment

According to Government Decree 168/2007/ND-CP regarding minimum wage in Foreign Invested Enterprises (FDI) effected from January 1, 2008 are as follow:

1.Level 1,000,000VND/month for enterprieses located in urban districts of Ho Chi Minh and Ha Noi

2. Level 900,000VND/month for enterprieses located in suburban districts of Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi,; Ha Long City (Quang Ninh); Bien Hoa City (Dong Nai); Long Khanh Town; Nhon Trach, Long Thanh, Vinh Cuu and Trang Bom of Dong Nai Province; Thu Dau Mot town, Thuan An, Di An, Ben Cat, and Tan Uyen Districts of Binh Duong Province; Vung tau City of Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province

3. Level 800,000VND/month applies to others regions

The lowest wages use to pay to trained workers (including workers were trained by the enterprise) must be at least 7% higher than the minimum wage mentioned at Article 1 of this Decree.

According to Decision 708/1999/QD-BLDTBXH of the of the Ministry of Labor – Invalid and Social Affair dated on June 15, 1999, Article 3. Employer shall not use the minimum wage as stated at Article 1 above to pay to skilled and trained workers (including workers were trained by the enterprise).

Salary Scale

According to Government Decree 114/2002/ND-CP dated on December 2002, article 5, point 3 regulated that the employer shall be responsible to establish the salary scale and wage table for all workers in the organization, the wage a quota shall be established after having consultation with trade union and announces the salary scale and wage table to all employees once established. The salary scale shall be registered and approved at the local labor department prior its implementation

Delay in payment

According to Vietnam Labor Law article 59, An employee shall be entitled to receive his wage directly, in full, in a timely manner, and at the place of work.

In special cases of late payment of wages, the employer must settle the outstanding wage within one month and pay to the employee compensation equal to at least the interest earned on the amount due calculated by reference to the interest rate of saving deposits published by the State Bank at the time when the wage was due.

Withholding Deposits

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 60, the workers have the right to be informed of the reason for any deductions from their wage. Before making any deduction, the employer must consult with the Executive Committee of the trade union of the undertaking. The total of deductions is not allowed to exceed 30% of the workers’ wages in any month.

Trial Period

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, article 32, the employer and the employee shall agree on a trial period, the duration of the trial, and the rights and obligations of the parties. The wage of the employee during a trial period must be at least seventy (70) per cent of the normal wage for the job. The trial period shall not exceed sixty (60) days in respect of works which require specialized or highly technical skills, or thirty (30) days in respect of other works.

According to Government Decree 44/2003/ND-CP, Article 7, the employer and the employee shall agree on a probation stipulated in Article 32 of the Labour Code, as follows:

1.The duration of the probation shall not exceed 60 days in respect of the job which requires technical or professional skills of a person graduated from a junior college or a college at higher level.

2. The duration of the probation shall not exceed 30 days in respect of the job which requires skills of a person graduated from a vocational high school, or a technical worker or an employee with general qualification.

3. The duration of probation shall not exceed 6 days in respect of other employees.

4. Upon the expiration of the probation, the employer shall notify the employee of the trial work results. If the trial work results satisfy the employer’s requirements, the two parties shall enter into a labour contract. Where the employee is not notified of the trial work results but continues to work, this means he is accepted to work officially.

Training

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 23, section 2, the business which recruits trainees or apprentices for subsequent employment in the business for a period specified in the training or apprenticeship contract shall not be required to register but are not entitle to collect fees for such training. The training or apprenticeships period shall be counted as a period of service with the business. Where trainees or apprentices directly engage or participate it to production during the training or apprenticeships period, they shall be paid at a rate agreed between the two parties.

Allowance for dangerous conditions

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 104, section 1, persons working in dangerous and toxic conditions shall receive allowances in kind, and enjoy preferential treatment in respect of hours of work and of rest, in accordance with the laws.

Downtime

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 62, during the time of work interruption the laborer is paid as follows:

- If the interruption is caused by the labor user, the laborer shall receive his full salary;

- If it is caused by the laborer, he shall not receive pay; the other laborers in the same unit who must stop working shall receive a pay as may be agreed upon by the two parties but must not in any case be lower than the minimum wage;

If the interruption is caused by an interruption of power or water supply beyond the control of the labor user or by any other force majeure causes, the pay shall be agreed upon by the two parties but must at any rate not be lower than the minimum wage.

Overtime compensation

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 61, workers performing overtime work shall be paid wages as follows: 150% on week days, 200% on weekend days, and 300% on holidays and paid leave.

According to the Government Decision 114/2002/ND-CP, Article 10, section 1, 2 and 3 regarding overtime calculation. Overtime compensations = Hourly rate *150%, 200% or 300%*overtime hours. The overtime calculation is base on actual piece wage if that worker earns on piece wage

Night shift Allowance

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, article 61, section 2 An employee who works at night as referred to in article 70 of this Law shall be paid an additional allowance of at least thirty (30) per cent of the standard day shift wage.

Night shift Overtime compensation

According to Circular 14/2003/LDTBXH of the Ministry of Labor dated on may 30, 2003 regarding wage calculation for workers working in FDI enterprieses. Point 3, part C, that Where an employee works overtime during the night-time, the wage payable for his overtime working hours is calculated as follows:

- For an employee who is paid a wage by reference to time:

Wage for additional night-time working hours = (Actual hourly wage) x 130% x (150%, or 200% or 300%) x (the number of additional night-time working hours).

Benefits

Annual Leave

According to the Vietnam Labor Law Article 74 regarding annual leave, workers shall be entitled to annual leave with full pay after 12 months of employment in the enterprise or with the same employer as follows:

- 12 working days, for persons working in normal working conditions

- 14 working days, for persons engaged in hard, harmful or dangerous work, or person working in areas with hard living conditions, and for persons under 18 years of age

- 16 working days for persons engaged in especially hard, harmful or dangerous work and persons engaged in hard, harmful or dangerous work in areas with hard living conditions.

Workers with less than 12 months of employment shall be entitled to annual leave in proportion to the length of service, and may be compensated with money.

Statutory Holidays

According to the Vietnam Labor law, Article 72, the laborer is entitled to obstain from work and receive full pay on the following holidays

- 1 day Calendar New Year

- 4 days Lunar New Year

- 1 day Hung Vuong King Annivesary

- 1 day Victory Day,

- 1 day International Labor Day,

- 1 day National Day

In case the above holidays coincide with weekly non-working days the laborer is entitled to take one day’s leave on the following day.

Social Insurance

According to the Vietnam Labor Law Article 141 providing regulations on mandatory Social Insurance (“SI”) and Health (“HI”) respectively, a factory with more than 10 employees has to contribute to SI and HI at the rates as follows: (i) 15% for SI and 2% for HI on the salaries/wages of the factory will be contributed by the employer; and (ii) 5% for SI and 1% for HI on the same will be contributed by the employee as soon as the trial period has been finished.

Medical Insurance

According to Article 2 of Decree 58/1998/ND-CP dated 13 August 1998 issued by Government, medical insurance contribution rate in case of non State owned economic organizations with 10 employees or more shall be 3% of salary, wages and other allowances (if any) as stated in the labor contract in accordance with regulations of State, in which the employer shall contribute 2%, and the employee shall contribute 1%

Social security for Temperary workers.

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 141, Section 2. In respect of employees who are employed under labour contract with less than three months term, social insurance contributions shall be included in the wage paid by their employer in accordance with Government decisions so as to enable the employees to participate in social insurance on a voluntary basis or to make their own insurance arrangements. When the above-mentioned labour contract is expired and the employees continue to work or a new contract is concluded, the compulsory social insurance scheme as stipulated in clause 1 of this Article shall be applied.

Female Labor

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 113, the labor user is not allowed to use female labor for heavy or dangerous jobs or jobs whtich necessitate contact with noxious substances having harmful effects on the reporductive and child rearing function of the woman laborer, the list of such substances is to be published by the Ministry of Labor, Ward Invalids and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Public Health. Those businesses using female labor for the above mentioned jobs must adopt plans of retraining in order gradually to transfer these women laborers to other more appropriate jobs, increase measures for health protection, improvement of the wokring conditions or reduction of the working time.

Pregnancy/Maternity Leave

According to the Vietnam Labor Law Article 115, no employer shall employ female workers as of their seventh month of pregnancy to work overtime, at night or in distant locations. Female workers performing strenuous work, on reaching their seventh month of pregnancy, shall be transferred to lighter work, or shall have their daily hours of work reduced by one hour but shall still receive their full wage.

According to Law of Social Security, No. 71/2006/QH11, Dated on June 29th, 2006, Article 29 pregnant workers are entitled to 5 days leave for pre-natal checks with pay

Maternity benefit

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 114, the woman laborer is entitled to take a leave before and after child birth totalling from 4 to 6 months according to prescriptions by the Government, depending on the working conditions and the character of the job, whether it is a heavy or noxious job or a job in a remoted region. If she gives birth to two or more children, the mother is entitle to another 30 days of leave for each additional child. The rights and interests of the women laborers durin ghte childbirth leave are defined in Articles 141 and 144 of the Code.

Child care

According to Vietnam Labor Law, Article 116, Point 2, where a high number of female employees are employed, the employer shall have the responsibility to assist in making arrangement for crèches and kindergarten or in covering part of the expenses incurred by female employees to place children in crèches or kindergarten.

9. Maximum work hours

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 68, normal working hours shall not exceed 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week. The employer has the right to determine the working hours on a daily or weekly basis provided that the workers are notified in advance.

According to Circular 15/2003/TT-BLDTBXH, of the Ministry of Labor – Invalid and Social Affair, giving guidance of the Government Decree 109/2002/ND-CP, regarding overtime work requirements. Article 2, Part 1.1; the employer can request for a overtime work for the following conditions; to solve technical problem, to meet the urgent deadline

Maximum Overtime

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 69, employers and workers may agree on additional hours to be worked, provided that the total may not exceed 4 additional hours in a day, or 300 additional hours in a year;

According to Circular 15/2003/TT-BLDTBXH, of the Ministry of Labor – Invalid and Social Affair, giving guidance of the Government Decree 109/2002/ND-CP, regarding overtime work requirements. Article 2, Point 2.1, paragraph;

a. Employer must reach an agreement with individual employees for a voluntary overtime work.

b. Total overtime hour per day must not exceed 4 hours, and 3 hours per day for those workers who involve to specially hard & harmful works.

c. Total overtime hours per week must not exceed 16 hours for normal works and 12 hours for specially hard & harmful works.

d. Total overtime hours in 4 consecutively days must not exceed 14 hours for normal work and 10 hours for hard and harmful works.

e. Workers are entitle to 30 minute dinner break and shall be included as overtime hours if they have to work more than 2 overtime hours per day

Day of Rest

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 72 regarding time of rest:

1. In every week, each employee shall be entitled to a break of at least one day (24 consecutive hours)

2. An employer may arrange for the weekly day off to fall on a Sunday or another specified day of the week.

3. Where, due to the nature of the work, it is impossible for the employees to have a weekly day off, the employer must ensure that the employees on average have at least four days off in a month.

Young workers

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 122 the hours of work of young workers shall not exceed 7 hours per day or 42 hours per week.

According to the Vietnam Labor Law, Article 119 young workers are workers under 18 years of age. At place where young workers was employed, separate records shall be kept mentioning in full name, date of birth, work assigned, and results of periodic health check