Can a laid-off employee receive salaries in Vietnam?

In which cases can an employee be dismissed for disciplinary reasons in Vietnam?

According to Article 125 of the Labor Code 2019, an employer may dismiss an employee for disciplinary reasons in the following circumstances:

(1) The employee commits an act of theft, embezzlement, gambling, deliberate infliction of injuries or uses drug at the workplace;

(2) The employee discloses technological or business secrets or infringing the intellectual property rights of the employer;

(3) The employee commits acts which are seriously detrimental or posing seriously detrimental threat to the assets or interests of the employer;

(4) The employee  commits sexual harassment in the workplace against the internal labor regulations;

(5) The employee repeats a violation which was disciplined by deferment of pay rise or demotion and has not been absolved.

(6) The employee fails to go to work for a total period of 05 days in 30 days, or for a total period of 20 days in 365 days from the first day he/she fails to go to work without acceptable excuses.

Can a laid-off employee receive salaries in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

Can a laid-off employee receive salaries in Vietnam?

According to Article 48 of the Labor Code 2019, responsibilities of the parties upon termination of an employment contract are as follows:

Responsibilities of the parties upon termination of an employment contract

1. Within 14 working days following the termination of an employment contract, both parties shall settle all payments in respect of the rights and interests of each party. In the following cases, such period may be extended, but shall not exceed 30 days:

a) Shutdown of business operation of the employer that is not a natural person;

b) Changes in the organizational structure, technology or changes due to economic reasons;

c) Full division, partial division, consolidation, merger of the enterprise; sale, lease, conversion of the enterprise; transfer of the right to ownership or right to enjoyment of assets of the enterprise or cooperative;

d) Natural disasters, fire, hostility or major epidemics.

2. Priority shall be given to payment of the employees’ salaries, social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, severance allowance and other benefits under the collective bargaining agreement and employment contracts in case of shutdown, dissolution or bankruptcy of an enterprise or cooperative.

3. The employer has the responsibility to:

a) Complete the procedures for verification of duration of participation in social insurance and unemployment insurance, return them and original copies of the employee’s other documents (if any);

b) Provide copies of the documents relevant to the employee’s work if requested by the employee. The employer shall pay the cost of copying and sending the documents.

Therefore, in the case of an employee being dismissed for disciplinary reasons, it is synonymous with the termination of the employment contract.

According to this Article, if the employer terminates the employment contract with the employee, the employer is responsible for fully settling all financial obligations related to the employee's rights, including salaries.

In which cases can an employee dismiss a pregnant employee in Vietnam?

According to Clause 1 of Article 137 of the Labor Code 2019, maternity protection is regulated as follows:

Maternity protection

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3. The employer must not dismiss an employee or unilaterally terminate the employment contract with an employee due to his/her marriage, pregnancy, maternity leave, or nursing a child under 12 months of age, except for cases where the employer that is a natural person dies or is declared incapacitated, missing or dead by the court, or the employer that is not a natural person ceases its business operation, declared by a provincial business registration authority that it does not have a legal representative or a person authorized to perform the legal representative’s rights and obligations.

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Therefore, an employer can dismiss a pregnant employee in Vietnam in the following cases:

- The employer dies.

- The employer is declared incapacitated, missing or dead by the court.

- The employer is not a natural person ceases its business operation, declared by a provincial business registration authority that it does not have a legal representative.

Best Regards!