Are employees entitled to full salary on Lunar New Year holiday of Vietnam? Enterprises force employees to go to work on Tet, how are they penalized?
Are employees entitled to full salary on Lunar New Year holiday of Vietnam?
Pursuant to Article 112 of the Labor Code 2019 of Vietnam, it provides as follows:
Article 112. Public holidays
1. Employees shall be entitled to fully paid days off on the following public holidays:
a) Gregorian Calendar New Year Holiday: 01 day (the 1st of January of the Gregorian calendar);
b) Lunar New Year Holidays: 05 days;
c) Victory Day: 01 day (the 30th of April of the Gregorian calendar);
d) International Labor Day: 01 day (the 1st of May of the Gregorian calendar);
dd) National Day: 02 days (the 2nd of September of the Gregorian calendar and the previous or next day);
e) Hung Kings Commemoration Day: 01 day (the 10th of the third month of the Lunar calendar).
2. Foreign employees in Vietnam are entitled to 01 traditional public holiday and 01 National Day of their country, in addition to the public holidays stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article.
3. The Prime Minister shall decide the specific public holidays mentioned in Point b and Point dd Clause 1 of this Article on an annual basis.
Accordingly, on the occasion of the Lunar New Year, employees are entitled to 05 days off work and still enjoy full salary.
Depending on the individual regulations of each company, employees may be able to take time off work longer than the time prescribed by law, but must ensure a Lunar New Year holiday of Vietnam period of at least 05 days.
Are employees entitled to full salary on Lunar New Year holiday of Vietnam? Enterprises force employees to go to work on Tet, how are they penalized?
Can businesses catch workers on Lunar New Year of Vietnam?
According to Article 107 of the Labor Code of Vietnam in 2019, there are the following provisions:
Article 107. Overtime work
1. Overtime work is the duration of work performed at any other time than during normal working hours, as indicated in the law, collective bargaining agreement or internal labor regulations of an employer.
2. An employer has the right to request an employee to work overtime when all of the following conditions are met:
a) The employee agrees to work overtime;
b) The number of overtime working hours of the employee does not exceed 50% of the normal working hours in 01 day; in case of weekly work, the total normal working hours plus overtime working hours shall not exceed 12 hours in 01 day, and 40 hours in 01 month;
c) The total overtime working hours do not exceed 200 hours in 01 year, except for the cases specified in Clause 3 of this Article.
3. An employer must not request an employee to work overtime exceeding 300 hours in 01 year in the following fields, works, jobs and cases:
a) Manufacture, processing of textile, garment, footwear, electric, electronic products, processing of agricultural, forestry, aquaculture products, salt production;
b) Generation and supply of electricity, telecommunications, refinery operation; water supply and drainage;
c) Works that require highly skilled workers that are not available on the labor market at the time;
d) Urgent works that cannot be delayed due to seasonal reasons or availability of materials or products, or due to unexpected causes, bad weather, natural disasters, fire, hostility, shortage of power or raw materials, or technical issue of the production line;
dd) Other cases prescribed by the Government.
4. When organizing overtime work as prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article, the employer shall send a written notification to the provincial labor authority.
5. The Government shall elaborate this Article.
Thus, when enterprises want employees to go to work on Lunar New Year holiday of Vietnam, they must first agree and obtain consent from employees. At the same time, the enterprise side must meet the above conditions.
Forcing employees to go to work on Tet, how are businesses penalized in Vietnam?
In case of pressuring or forcing employees to go to work during Tet, the employer will be sanctioned for administrative violations according to Clause 3 Article 18 of Decree 12/2022/ND-CP as follows:
Article 18. Violations against regulations on working hours and rest periods
…
3. A fine ranging from VND 20.000.000 to VND 25.000.000 shall be imposed upon an employer for commission of one of the following violations:
a) Applying normal working hours exceeding the working hours prescribed by law;
b) Mobilizing employees to work overtime without their consent, except for the cases specified in Article 108 of the Labour Code.
Thus, employers who are violating individuals may be fined from 20-25 million VND. Meanwhile, violators who are organizations may be fined twice as much as 40-50 million VND.
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