Notice period when the company unilaterally terminates a fixed-term labor contract - are public holidays counted?
Does the notice period when the company unilaterally terminates a fixed-term contract include holidays?
Based on Article 36 of the Labor Code 2019 regulating the employer’s right to unilaterally terminate the labor contract as follows:
Employer’s right to unilaterally terminate the labor contract
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2. When unilaterally terminating the labor contract in the cases specified at points a, b, c, d, and g of Clause 1 of this Article, the employer must give prior notice to the employee as follows:
a) At least 45 days for an indefinite-term labor contract;
b) At least 30 days for a fixed-term labor contract with a duration from 12 months to 36 months;
c) At least 03 working days for a fixed-term labor contract with a duration of less than 12 months and in the case specified at point b of Clause 1 of this Article;
d) For certain industries, occupations, and jobs with specific characteristics, the prior notice period shall be as stipulated by the Government of Vietnam.
3. When unilaterally terminating the labor contract as stipulated at points d and e of Clause 1 of this Article, the employer is not required to give prior notice to the employee.
In the case of a fixed-term labor contract with a duration of 12 to 36 months, the company must give the employee at least 30 days’ notice before unilaterally terminating the contract.
The above regulation only mentions that the employer must give at least 30 days' notice, but does not specify that it must be at least 30 working days.
Therefore, the notice period when the company unilaterally terminates a fixed-term contract will include holidays as stipulated by law.
*Does the notice period when the company unilaterally terminates a fixed-term contract include holidays?*
When can an employee enter into multiple fixed-term contracts?
According to Clause 2, Article 20 of the Labor Code 2019 regulating the types of labor contracts as follows:
Types of labor contracts
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2. When the labor contract specified at point b of Clause 1 of this Article expires and the employee continues to work, the following shall be implemented:
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c) In the case that both parties enter into a new labor contract which is a fixed-term labor contract, they may only sign one additional fixed-term labor contract. Thereafter, if the employee continues to work, an indefinite-term labor contract must be signed, except for the labor contract with the employee hired as a director in a state-owned enterprise and the cases specified in Clause 1, Article 149; Clause 2, Article 151; and Clause 4, Article 177 of this Code.
Thus, according to the above regulation, when a fixed-term labor contract expires, the employee and the employer can only sign one more fixed-term labor contract.
However, the employer and the employee can enter into multiple fixed-term contracts if they fall under one of the following cases:
- The employee is hired as a director in a state-owned enterprise;
- The employee is an older worker;
- The employee is a foreigner working in Vietnam;
- The employee is a member of the executive committee of the labor representative organization at the establishment during their tenure.
What information is the employee required to provide when entering into a fixed-term labor contract?
Based on Article 16 of the Labor Code 2019 regulating the obligation to provide information when entering into a labor contract, specifically as follows:
Obligation to provide information when entering into a labor contract
1. The employer is obliged to provide truthful information to the employee about the job, the workplace, working conditions, working hours, rest hours, labor safety, labor hygiene, wages, payment methods, social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, regulations on protecting business secrets, protecting technological secrets, and other issues directly related to the labor contract requested by the employee.
2. The employee is obliged to provide truthful information to the employer about their full name, date of birth, gender, residence, educational level, professional qualifications, health status, and other issues directly related to the labor contract as requested by the employer.
According to the above regulation, when entering into a fixed-term labor contract, the employee is required to provide the following information truthfully:
- Full name.
- Date of birth.
- Gender.
- Residence.
- Educational level.
- Professional qualifications.
- Confirmation of health status and other issues directly related to the labor contract as requested by the employer.
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