Please download our guidance on the following employment Covid-19 issues here.

This guidance is written by Nguyen Hoang Duong, Nguyen Bich Ngoc, Quach Mai Phuong, and Nguyen Quang Vu.

1. Employer’s general responsibility to maintain a safe workplace during Covid-19 outbreak?

2. How to deal with employees confirmed to be positive for Covid-19?

3. How to deal with an employee who is in quarantine due to Government order?

4. How to deal with an employee who violates “Covid-19” regulations (e.g., making an untrue medical declaration, or avoiding quarantine) and is later on tested positive?

5. How to deal with employees who are suspected to have or be exposed to Covid-19 but are not subject to quarantine requirements?

Available remedies

The employer may consider:

· terminating the violating employee’s labor contract by way of dismissal; and

· requesting the violating employee to compensate for damages.

Dismissal

Under the Labor Code 2012, an employer is permitted to apply dismissal as a form of dealing with breach of labor discipline where the employee is guilty of conduct (a) causing serious loss and damage, or (b) which threatens to cause particularly serious loss and damage to property or interests of the employer.

An employee, who breaches the Government’s “Covid-19” regulations such as making inaccurate mandatory medical declaration or avoiding applicable quarantine requirements and is later on tested positive for Covid-19 (the violating employee) may cause material disruption and damages to the employer.

Employees being quarantined at Government facilities

Vietnamese authorities require:

• all persons who have been in direct and close contact with a confirmed Covid-19 patient (commonly referred in Vietnam as F1 Suspects) to be put into mandatory quarantined at Government facilities; and

• all persons who have been in direct and close contact with a F1 Suspect to be self-quarantine at home (commonly referred in Vietnam as F2 Suspects).

The standard quarantine period is 14 days.

For F1 Suspect, there following options may be available:

For any employee who is tested being positive for Covid-19 and is known to the employer, the employer is entitled to require the employee to take sick leave in accordance with the Social Insurance Law 2014. That said, this may not be necessary, since the Government requires all Covid-19 confirmed patients to be put into mandatory quarantine and treatment in a hospital.