Vietnam Covid-19 Outbreak - Maintaining A Safe Workplace

Under the labor law, the employer is generally required to (1) maintain conditions of safety and hygiene for the workplace, and (2) provide its employees with labor protection equipment. In particular, during the period of “social distancing” from 1 April to 15 April 2020, the Prime Minister has instructed all employers who are permitted to work from their offices during this period (Essential Business Employers) to adopt the following measures:

  • wearing face masks and providing sufficient equipment and facilities for prevention and fighting against the coronavirus as required by regulatory regulations and recommended by medical authorities. For example, according to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) advice, an employer should conduct regular cleaning of workplace and equipment and provide employees with adequate protection facilities (mask, antiseptics);

  • requiring employees to conduct medical declarations and refraining from going outside, contacting others, and communicating with others;

  • avoiding temporarily non-emergency and unnecessary activities and reducing gathering of employees in limited space; and

  • organising and managing transport to carry employees to and from their workplaces (if any) in order to avoid the spread of Covid-19.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In ,

New Vietnamese Labour Code 2019

On 20 November 2019, the National Assembly of Vietnam adopted the new Labor Code (Labor Code 2019) to replace the Labor Code 2012. The Labor Code 2019 will come into effect from 1 January 2021. The table below (download here) cover notable points of the Labor Code 2019 in comparison with the Labor Code 2012. This post is written by Nguyen Hoang Duong and edited by Nguyen Quang Vu.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In

Contract Structure for Senior Managers in Vietnam – Part 2

When a company hires a senior manager, it usually wants to (1) hire the manager for a fixed term only, and (2) have the flexibility to fire the senior manager if he/she does not perform as expected. However, under the Labour Code 2012, a fixed-term contract is limited to three years, and to fire or to change the work of an employee, the employer must satisfy various strict conditions.

To overcome these restrictions, the employer may specify in the employment contract with the senior manager that the senior manager is employed to work for two different jobs. These two jobs are:

·         The senior-level job that the employee is recruited for. The senior-level job will provide the senior manager with all the salaries and benefits associated with such job; and

·         an entry-level job with minimum wage and benefit.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In

Contract Structure for Senior Managers in Vietnam - Part 1

A good employment contract for a senior position, like any other employment contract, is the one that can balance the needs of the employer and the employee. A senior-level employee usually seeks attractive salary, incentives, benefits, while problems like non-competition and non-disclosure are the major concerns of an employer. On the other hand, both sides may want certain same things in an employment contract, for example, long-term contract (fixed or indefinite term), ability to terminate the contract without cause, indemnification for wrongful termination of employment contract, and so on.

Unfortunately, under Vietnamese employment laws, there are certain restrictions that prevent the parties, especially the employer side, from having an employment contract that can reflect accurately their commercial needs. This is because Labor Law 2012 is drafted in favor of the employee side due to the view of the State that the employee is the one who is in a weaker position in a labor relationship.

One potential solution to overcome the restrictions under the Labour Code 2012 for contract with a key personnel is to have a separate “civil contract” between the key personnel and the key shareholder or director of the employer in addition to the normal employment contract.

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Written by Nguyen Quang Vu On In