What should victims of online job recruitment in Vietnam fraud do?

Currently, in Vietnam, job fraud occurs at various levels and with different tactics. Among these, there are acts where organizations or individuals use the brand names of large companies to post job advertisements, then require job seekers to pay recruitment deposit fees and embezzle them. If you fall into this situation, how does Vietnamese law regulate it and what should the deceived person do? Please refer to the article below:

1. Do employees in Vietnam have to pay a recruitment deposit fee?

Based on Article 11 of the Labor Code 2019, it is stipulated that employers have the right to directly or through employment service organizations, labor leasing enterprises recruit employees according to the needs of employers. Employees do not have to pay any fees for labor recruitment.

Therefore, employees do not have to pay any deposit fees for the recruitment process. If an employer requires an applicant to pay a deposit fee as part of the recruitment process, this may be considered fraudulent recruitment behavior.

2. What are the fines of fraudulent recruitment behavior in Vietnam?

Article 8 of Decree 12/2022/ND-CP stipulates as follows:

Article 8. Violations in recruitment, and labor management

1. Fines ranging from 1,000,000 VND to 3,000,000 VND will be imposed on employers for one of the following acts:

a) Failing to declare the employment use according to the regulations;

b) Collecting money from employees participating in recruitment;

c) Failing to fully record or enter employee information into the labor management book from the day the employee starts work;

d) Failing to present the labor management book when requested by the competent state management agency.

2. Fines ranging from 5,000,000 VND to 10,000,000 VND will be imposed on employers for one of the following acts:

a) Discrimination in labor except for discriminatory acts stipulated in point d clause 1 Article 13, clause 2 Article 23, clause 1 Article 36, and clause 2 Article 37 of this Decree;

b) Using untrained employees or those who do not have national vocational skill certificates for occupations that require trained employees or national vocational skill certificates;

c) Failing to report changes in labor according to the regulations;

d) Failing to set up a labor management book or setting it up late or improperly according to the basic contents required by law.

3. Fines ranging from 50,000,000 VND to 75,000,000 VND will be imposed for one of the following acts: enticing; seducing; promising; falsely advertising or using other tricks to deceive employees or recruiting employees with the purpose of exploitation, forced labor but not to the extent of criminal prosecution.

4. Remedial measures:

5. Employers must return to employees the money collected for the violated act stipulated in point b clause 1 of this Article.

According to the mentioned regulations, collecting money from employees participating in recruitment will be subject to administrative penalties, specifically, fines ranging from 1,000,000 VND to 3,000,000 VND. Additionally, those employers will be compelled to apply remedial measures to return the collected money to the employees.

3. What should someone do if they are deceived into a fraudulent online job recruitment in Vietnam?

Article 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2015 (amended and supplemented in 2021) stipulates the reporting of crimes:

Article 144. Reporting of crimes, crime reports, and recommendations for prosecution

1. Reporting of crimes is when individuals discover and report criminal acts to the competent authorities.

2. Crime reports are information about criminal acts reported by agencies, organizations, and individuals to the competent authorities, or information about crimes on mass media.

3. Recommendations for prosecution are the written suggestions accompanied by pertinent evidence and related documents sent by competent state agencies to the Investigative Agency or Procuracy for consideration and handling of the criminal act.

4. Reporting of crimes, crime reports can be made verbally or in writing.

Based on Clause 2 Article 145 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2015, amended and supplemented in 2021, the agencies and organizations responsible for receiving crime reports and recommendations for prosecution include the following:

- The Investigative Agency, the Procuracy receive reports, crime reports, and recommendations for prosecution;

- Other agencies and organizations that receive crime reports and crime information.

To be specific: When discovering fraudulent recruitment behavior, to protect one's legitimate rights and interests, the employee should not transfer any recruitment deposit fees and should submit a crime report to the Investigative Agency in the place of residence, permanent residence, or temporary residence.

Besides directly reporting to the competent authority, the deceived person can also report the information through the Hotline of the Cyber Security and Hi-tech Crime Prevention and Control Department as stipulated in Clause 9 Article 2 of Decree 53/2022/ND-CP.

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