Vietnam: Can employers charge their employees to keep their jobs? If not, what is the penalty?
Vietnam: Can employers charge their employees to keep their jobs?
First, according to Article 11 of the Labor Code 2019 regulating labor recruitment, it specifies the following:
Labor Recruitment
1. Employers have the right to directly or through employment service organizations, labor outsourcing enterprises to recruit employees according to the needs of the employer.
2. Employees do not have to pay any costs for labor recruitment.
Thus, when attending an interview, employees are not required to pay any costs to the employer.
At the same time, according to Article 8 of Decree 12/2022/ND-CP regulating the handling of violations regarding recruitment and labor management, it states:
Violations concerning recruitment and labor management
1. A fine ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 shall be imposed on employers for one of the following actions:
a) Failing to declare the use of labor as prescribed;
b) Collecting money from employees for participating in the recruitment process;
c) Failing to record or fully input information about employees into the labor management book from the day the employee begins to work;
d) Failing to present the labor management book when requested by the competent state management agency.
2. A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 shall be imposed on employers for one of the following actions:
a) Discrimination in labor except for the discriminatory actions specified at Point d, Clause 1, Article 13; Clause 2, Article 23; Clause 1, Article 36; and Clause 2, Article 37 of this Decree;
b) Employing workers who have not been trained or have not received a national occupational skills certificate for occupations and jobs required to use trained workers or those with a national occupational skills certificate;
c) Failing to report changes in labor as prescribed;
d) Failing to establish a labor management book or establishing a labor management book that does not conform to the prescribed timeline or lacks basic information as required by law.
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Therefore, based on these regulations, the act of the company requiring employees to put down a sum to keep their jobs constitutes a legal violation and will be subject to a monetary fine ranging from VND 1,000,000 to VND 3,000,000, depending on the severity of the case.
Additionally, the company must return the collected sum to the employee for such a violation.
Note: The monetary fine rates for these violations are applicable to individuals. The fine rates applicable to organizations are double those for individuals.
Vietnam: Can employers charge their employees to keep their jobs? If not, what is the penalty?
Can the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee impose fines upon employers charging employees to keep their jobs in Vietnam?
Pursuant to Article 48 of Decree 12/2022/ND-CP which regulates the authority to penalize of the Chairman of the People's Committee, it specifies:
Authority to penalize of the Chairman of the People's Committee
1. The Chairman of the Commune People's Committee has the authority to impose a warning or a fine up to VND 5,000,000 for administrative violations in the fields of labor, social insurance, and Vietnamese employees working abroad under a contract as stipulated in Chapters II, III, and IV of this Decree.
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Therefore, the Chairman of the Commune People's Committee has the authority to penalize the act of the company charging employees to keep their jobs by imposing a warning or a fine up to VND 5,000,000.
Note: The authority to penalize mentioned above applies to individuals. In the case of penalizing organizations, the monetary amount within the authority to penalize will be double that for individuals.
What are rights and obligations of employers in Vietnam?
According to Article 6 of the Labor Code 2019, it specifies:
Rights and obligations of employers
1. Employers have the following rights:
a) Recruit, arrange, manage, direct, and supervise employees; reward and handle violations of labor discipline;
b) Establish, join, and operate in representative organizations of employers, professional organizations, and other organizations according to the law;
c) Request the labor representative organization to negotiate for concluding a collective labor agreement; participate in resolving labor disputes and strikes; engage in dialogue and exchange with the labor representative organization on issues within the labor relationship framework to improve the material and mental life of employees;
d) Temporarily close the workplace;
dd) Other rights as prescribed by law.
2. Employers have the following obligations:
a) Perform labor contracts, collective labor agreements, and other lawful agreements; respect the honor and dignity of employees;
b) Establish and implement mechanisms for dialogue and exchange with employees and the labor representative organization; implement grassroots democracy regulations at the workplace;
c) Train, retrain, and improve professional and vocational skills to maintain and convert jobs for employees;
d) Comply with the legal regulations on labor, employment, vocational education, social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, labor safety, and hygiene; develop and implement solutions to prevent sexual harassment at the workplace;
dd) Participate in the development of national vocational skill standards, evaluate, and recognize vocational skills for employees.
Thus, employers have rights and obligations as outlined in the above provisions.
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