How much is service fee for the service enterprise providing Vietnamese guest to work abroad according to the law?

How much is service fee for the service enterprise providing Vietnamese guest to work abroad according to the law?

Pursuant to Article 23 of the Law on Vietnamese guest workers 2020, service fee is as follows:

1. Service fee is an amount of money received by a service enterprise from a foreign employment receiver and workers to compensate for cost, market research, negotiation, signing of labor supply agreement and management of workers while they are working abroad according to this Law.

2. Service fees collected from workers by service enterprises must:

a) be agreed upon by worker(s) and service enterprises; and

b) not exceed the top limit specified under Clause 4 of this Article; and

c) only be collected once labor supply agreements have been approved by Ministry of Labor – War Invalids and Social Affairs and once contracts for provision of Vietnamese guest worker have been signed; and

d) be collected from workers only in form of the remainder of the service fee which have been partially paid for by foreign employment receivers.

3. In case service enterprises have collected service fees submitted by workers for the entirety of working period agreed upon under contracts for provision of Vietnamese guest worker service and workers must prematurely repatriate due to reasons other than the workers’ faults, service enterprises must return the service fees and interest rates corresponding to the remaining period of contracts for provision of Vietnamese guest worker service.

Interest shall be calculated based on interest rates of demand deposit payments in VND of credit institutions agreed upon by the parties at the time service enterprises repay workers.

4. Top limit of service fees collected from workers shall be prescribed as follows:

a) The top limit of service fee must not exceed 1 month’s worth of salary of workers and shall be collected once every 12 months of working; not exceed 1.5 month’s worth of salary of officers and crew members working on cargo ships and shall be collected once every 12 months of working; In case of contracts for provision of Vietnamese guest service last for at least 36 months, the service fee under such contracts must not exceed 3 months’ worth of salary of workers;

b) In case service fees for extended period of contracts for provision of Vietnamese guest service is agreed upon, the top limit of the service fees for every 12 extended months of working must not exceed 0.5 month’s worth of salary of workers;

c) For specific markets, fields of operation and professions, Minister of Labor - War Invalids and Social Affairs shall elaborate the top limit of service fee below the amounts specified under Point a and Point b of this Clause.

Thus, according to current regulations in Vietnam, there are no clear regulations on service fees that businesses can be paid. Depending on the labor market, there will be specific regulations on this fee, but the maximum service fee will not exceed the above mentioned regulations.

What rights do service enterprises have when performing ontracts for provision of Vietnamese guest worker?

According to Clause 1, Article 26 of the Law on Vietnamese guest workers 2020, rights and obligations of service enterprises are as follows:

1. Service enterprises have the rights to:

a) execute provisions under Article 9 of this Law;

b) agree with workers on service fees, deposit payments and guarantee for execution of contracts for provision of Vietnamese guest worker according to this Law;

c) unilaterally liquidate contracts for provision of Vietnamese guest worker service after informing in form of registered mails 3 times within 180 days from the date on which workers terminate employment contracts without liquidating or legally authorizing other individuals to liquidate contracts, or within 180 days from the date on which workers extend employment contracts without executing rights and obligations under contracts for provision of Vietnamese guest worker service;

dd) complain and/or file lawsuits against decisions or violations to regulations and law in provision of Vietnamese guest worker service.

According to current regulations, service enterprises will have the above rights in Vietnam.

Best Regards!