If person who is authorized to conclude a contract authorize another person in Vietnam, will a contract be valid?

If person who is authorized to conclude a contract authorize another person in Vietnam, will a contract be valid?

According to Clause 4, Article 18 of the 2019 Labor Code, regulations on competence to conclude employment contracts

1. Employees may directly conclude their employment contracts, except for the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. In respect of seasonal works or certain jobs which have a duration of less than 12 months, a group of employees aged 18 or older may authorized the representative of the group to conclude the employment contract, in which case such employment contract shall be effective as if it was separately concluded by each of the employees.

The employment contract concluded by the said representative must be enclosed with a list clearly stating the full names, ages, genders, residences and signatures of all employees concerned.

3. The person who concludes the employment contract on the employer’s side shall be:

a) The legal representative of the enterprise or an authorized person as prescribed by law;

b) The head of the organization that is a juridical person, or an authorized person as prescribed by law;

c) The representative of the household, artels or an organization that is not a juridical person, or an authorized person as prescribed by law;

d) The individual who directly hires the employee.

4. The person who concludes the employment contract on the employee’s side shall be:

a) The employee himself/herself if he/she is 18 or older;

b) The employee aged 15 to under 18 with a written consensus by his/her legal representative;

c) The employee aged under 15 and his/her legal representative;

d) The employee lawfully authorized by the group of employees to conclude the employment contract.

5. The person who is authorized to conclude the employment contract must not authorize another person to conclude the employment contract.

Thus, according to current regulations in Vietnam, it is legal for the legal representative of your company to authorize the head of the human resources division to sign the contract. However, re-authorizing a subordinate employee to sign a contract depends on the case. If your director agrees with your head of human resources division to authorize you to sign a contract with the employee, the contract will still be valid.

If person who is authorized to conclude a contract authorize another person in Vietnam, will a contract be valid? (Image from the Internet)

What is handling for an employment contract signed with the wrong authority in Vietnam?

In addition, Article 51 of the 2019 Labor Code stipulates settlements upon invalidation of an employment contract as follows:

1. Where an employment contract is declared as partially invalid, it shall be dealt with as follows:

a) The rights, obligations and benefits of the parties shall be settled in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement (or provisions of the law if there is no collective bargaining agreement);

b) The parties shall revise the invalidated part of the employment contract in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement or labor laws.

2. In case an employment contract is completely invalidated, the rights, obligations and interests of the employee shall be settled in accordance with law. In case an employment contract is concluded ultra vires, another contract shall be concluded.

3. The Government shall elaborate this Article.

According to this Article, in case your employment contract is signed with the wrong authority, both parties can re-sign the employment contract in Vietnam.

Best regards!