Do companies in Vietnam pay for the unused annual leave days of employees?

Do companies in Vietnam pay for the unused annual leave days of employees?

Pursuant to Clause 3 Article 113 of the Labor Code in 2019 stipulating annual leave as follows:

Annual leave

1. Any employee who has been working for an employer for 12 months is entitled to fully-paid annual leave, which is stipulated in his/her employment contract as follows:

a) 12 working days for employees who work in normal working conditions;

b) 14 working days for employees that are minors, the disabled, employees who do laborious, toxic or dangerous works;

c) 16 working days for employees who do highly laborious, toxic or dangerous works.

2. An employee who has been working for an employer for less than 12 months will have a number of paid leave days proportional to the number of working months.

3. An employee who, due to employment termination or job loss, has not taken or not entirely taken up his/her annual leave shall be paid in compensation for the untaken leave days.

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Therefore, based on the above regulations, there will be 02 cases as follows:

Case 1: If an employee resigns or loses their job but has taken annual leave during their employment and has not used up all of those days, they will be paid by the employer for the exact number of days that they have not taken.

The amount that the employer needs to pay for the days that have not been taken will be based on Clause 3, Article 67 of Decree 145/2020/NĐ-CP, which is the salary according to the employment contract of the month immediately preceding the month in which the employee resigns or loses their job.

For example: An employee resigns in December 2023 and still has 8 days of annual leave left. In particular, in November 2023, the employee had a total of 26 working days, and the salary for November 2023 was VND 15,000,000 (for a full month). Then, the amount that the company must pay for the 8 remaining days of annual leave for employee A is: (VND 15,000,000/26) x 8 = VND 4,615,000.

Case 2: If an employee has not used up all of their annual leave days and is still working normally, they will also be paid by the employer for the days that they have not taken.

[1] If the employee has requested leave, but due to the company's busy work situation at the end of the year, the company has not been able to provide enough staff to cover for the employee. The company has discussed this issue with the employee and the employee has agreed to work during these days and not use their annual leave. In this case, the company is obligated to pay the employee for the days that they have not been able to take.

For this case, when the employee uses their annual leave days to work, the company must pay them at least 300% of their regular salary (excluding the daily annual leave salary for employees who are paid on a daily basis). This is based on Point c, Clause 1, Article 98 of the Labor Code in 2019.

[2] For the case where the employee still has annual leave days but refuses to take them, the company is not obligated to pay the employee for the days of annual leave that have not been used up. However, the employee may still be paid for the days of annual leave that have not been used up if the parties have an agreement; or the company has a policy for employees.

Do companies in Vietnam pay for the unused annual leave days of employees? - Source: Internet

How many annual leave days does an employee have in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 113 of the Labor Code in 2019 stipulating annual leave as follows:

Annual leave

1. Any employee who has been working for an employer for 12 months is entitled to fully-paid annual leave, which is stipulated in his/her employment contract as follows:

a) 12 working days for employees who work in normal working conditions;

b) 14 working days for employees that are minors, the disabled, employees who do laborious, toxic or dangerous works;

c) 16 working days for employees who do highly laborious, toxic or dangerous works.

2. An employee who has been working for an employer for less than 12 months will have a number of paid leave days proportional to the number of working months.

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Based on the above regulations, the number of annual leave days for employees is determined by the length of their service, as follows:

[1] Any employee who has been working for an employer for 12 months is entitled to fully-paid annual leave, which is stipulated in his/her employment contract as follows:

- 12 working days for employees who work in normal working conditions;

- 14 working days for employees that are minors, the disabled, employees who do laborious, toxic or dangerous works;

- 16 working days for employees who do highly laborious, toxic or dangerous works.

[2] An employee who has been working for an employer for less than 12 months will have a number of paid leave days proportional to the number of working months.

Pursuant to Article 114 of the Labor Code in 2019, the annual leave of an employee shall increase by 01 day for every 05 years of employment with the same employer.

Can employees in Vietnam combine annual leave days?

Pursuant to Article 113 of the Labor Code in 2019 stipulating annual leave as follows:

Annual leave

1. Any employee who has been working for an employer for 12 months is entitled to fully-paid annual leave, which is stipulated in his/her employment contract as follows:

a) 12 working days for employees who work in normal working conditions;

b) 14 working days for employees that are minors, the disabled, employees who do laborious, toxic or dangerous works;

c) 16 working days for employees who do highly laborious, toxic or dangerous works.

2. An employee who has been working for an employer for less than 12 months will have a number of paid leave days proportional to the number of working months.

3. An employee who, due to employment termination or job loss, has not taken or not entirely taken up his/her annual leave shall be paid in compensation for the untaken leave days.

4. The employer has the responsibility to regulate the timetable for annual leaves after consultation with the employees and must give prior notice to the employees. An employee may reach an agreement with the employer on taking annual leave in instalments or combining annual leave over a maximum period of up to 03 years.

5. When an employee takes his/her annual leave before salary payment is due, he/she may receive an advance in accordance with Clause 3 Article 101 of this Labor Code.

6. When taking annual leave, should the employee travel by road, rail, water and the travel days, the traveling time in excess to 02 days will be added to the annual leave days, and this policy shall only be granted once for an annual leave in a year.

7. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

Based on the above regulations, the employer is responsible for determining the annual leave schedule after consulting with employees and must notify employees in advance.

Employees may agree with the employer to take annual leave in multiple installments or to combine annual leave for up to three years in one installment.

Therefore, if an employee wants to combine their annual leave days into one installment, they must first agree with the employer. However, they can only combine up to three years of leave in one installment.

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