Guideline on sending Vietnamese workers abroad to work on overseas petroleum projects

Guideline on sending Vietnamese workers abroad to work on overseas petroleum projects (Image from the Internet)

On October 15, 2024, the Government of Vietnam promulgated Decree 132/2024/ND-CP regulating outward investment in petroleum activities.

Guideline on sending Vietnamese workers abroad to work on overseas petroleum projects

According to Article 23 of Decree 132/2024/ND-CP, the sending of Vietnamese workers to work on overseas petroleum projects and stabilizing policies for workers participating in implementing overseas petroleum projects in Vietnam are carried out as follows:

- Investors are only allowed to send Vietnamese workers to work on overseas petroleum projects after obtaining a certificate of outward investment registration and meeting the legal requirements on labor in Vietnam and the host country of the investment.

- Investors must fully comply with the regulations on sending Vietnamese workers to work on overseas petroleum projects in accordance with the Law on Vietnamese Workers Working Abroad under Contract 2020 and other related regulations.

- In the case where workers are regularly assigned by the investor to work at organizations implementing overseas petroleum projects under a written agreement between the investor and partners where salaries, bonuses, and policies, including allowances and insurance, are accounted in the project’s taxable costs before being transferred to the investor to pay workers, the workers are ensured salary, bonus, and allowance policies according to the labor contract and agreements with the investor (employer). The investor may use a foreign currency payroll applicable to the workers as a basis to fulfill social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, and other mandatory social contributions as per Vietnamese law.

- For workers regularly assigned by the investor to work at organizations implementing overseas petroleum projects where mandatory insurance policies must be paid according to Vietnamese law but cannot be accounted in the project’s taxable costs, the investor is allowed to extract from its business production costs and workers contribute from personal income to fulfill social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, and other mandatory social contributions for the workers as per Vietnamese law.

- The regime for social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, and other mandatory social contributions according to Vietnamese law for workers regularly assigned by the investor to work at organizations implementing overseas petroleum projects is implemented similarly to equivalent positions in Vietnam.

More details can be found in Decree 132/2024/ND-CP which comes into force in Vietnam from December 5, 2024, replacing Decree 124/2017/ND-CP of the Government of Vietnam concerning outward investment in petroleum activities.

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