Public holiday schedule for the Lunar New Year 2024 for cadres, civil servants, and public employees in Vietnam

How many days off do cadres, civil servants, and public employees get for the Lunar New Year 2024 in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 112 of the Labor Code in 2019 stipulating public holidays as follows:

Public holidays

1. Employees shall be entitled to fully paid days off on the following public holidays:

a) Gregorian Calendar New Year Holiday: 01 day (the 1^st of January of the Gregorian calendar);

b) Lunar New Year Holidays: 05 days;

c) Victory Day: 01 day (the 30^th of April of the Gregorian calendar);

d) International Labor Day: 01 day (the 1^st of May of the Gregorian calendar);

dd) National Day: 02 days (the 2^nd of September of the Gregorian calendar and the previous or next day);

e) Hung Kings Commemoration Day: 01 day (the 10^th of the third month of the Lunar calendar).

2. Foreign employees in Vietnam are entitled to 01 traditional public holiday and 01 National Day of their country, in addition to the public holidays stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. The Prime Minister shall decide the specific public holidays mentioned in Point b and Point dd Clause 1 of this Article on an annual basis.

Pursuant to Clause 3 Article 111 of the Labor Code in 2019 stipulating weekly breaks as follows:

Weekly breaks

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3. In case a public holiday falls on an employee’s weekly break coincide with a public holiday as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 112 of this Labor Code, he/she will have compensatory time-off on the next working days.

According to the above regulations, cadres, civil servants, and public employees will be granted 5 days of public holiday for the Lunar New Year in 2024. However, based on actual conditions, the Prime Minister will make a specific decision on the public holiday schedule for the Lunar New Year in 2024.

According to the plan, cadres, civil servants, and public employees will be off from Thursday, February 8, 2024 to Wednesday, February 14, 2024.

Therefore, for the Lunar New Year in 2024, cadres, civil servants, and public employees will be off for 7 days, including 5 days of Lunar New Year holiday and 2 days of compensatory leave for weekly off days according to regulations.

Specifically, the planned holiday schedule for the Lunar New Year in 2024 for cadres, civil servants, and public employees is as follows:

Note: The above Lunar New Year holiday schedule for 2024 is for reference only because the official holiday schedule has not yet been announced.

Public holiday schedule for the Lunar New Year 2024 for cadres, civil servants, and public employees in Vietnam - Source: Internet

Is there any fine for businesses that force employees to work on Lunar New Year holidays in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 18 of the Decree 12/2022/NĐ-CP stipulating violations against regulations on working hours and rest periods as follows:

Violations against regulations on working hours and rest periods

1. A fine ranging from VND 2.000.000 to VND 5.000.000 shall be imposed upon an employer for commission of one of the following violations:

a) Failing to grant personal leave or unpaid leave to employees in accordance with regulations of law;

b) Failing to send a written notification of organization of overtime working hours in excess of 200 hours to 300 hours in a year to the Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the province where such overtime works are performed and of the province where it is headquartered.

2. A fine ranging from VND 10.000.000 to VND 20.000.000 shall be imposed upon an employer for committing violations against regulations on weekly breaks or annual leave or public holidays.

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Therefore, according to the regulations above, businesses that force employees to work on Lunar New Year holidays will be fined from VND 10 million to VND 20 million, depending on the severity of the case.

Note: The fine for individual violators of this regulation is VND 10 million to VND 20 million. The fine for organizational violators is twice the fine for individual violators (according to Article 6, Clause 1 of Decree 12/2022/NĐ-CP).

Can employees in Vietnam request to go home early for Lunar New Year and still be paid the full salary?

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.

As regulations above, employees who have worked for the same employer for 12 months are entitled to annual leave with full salary for the following number of days:

- 12 days for employees working in normal conditions.

- 14 days for underage workers, disabled workers, workers in heavy, hazardous, and dangerous occupations.

- 16 days for workers in particularly heavy, hazardous, and dangerous occupations.

If an employee has worked for the same employer for less than 12 months, the number of days of annual leave will be calculated in proportion to the number of months worked. (For example, if you have worked for 6 months, you will have 6 days of annual leave.)

In addition, employees may also negotiate with their employer to take annual leave in multiple installments or to combine up to 3 years at a time.

Based on these grounds, it can be seen that employees are allowed to request to go home early for Lunar New Year and still be paid the full salary if they still have annual leave. However, first, if you want to take a leave to go home early for Lunar New Year, the employee must negotiate and obtain the consent of the employer.

Best regards!