Lunar New Year 2020 Salary and Bonuses: Issues Teachers Need to Note

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1. Teachers are entitled to time off with full pay

This is stipulated in Article 115 of the Labor Code 2012. To be specific:

1. Employees are entitled to take days off with full pay on the following public holidays and Tet:

a) One day for the Gregorian New Year (January 1);

b) Five days for the Lunar New Year;

If these holidays coincide with the weekly days off, teachers are entitled to take compensatory days off immediately following the holiday.

According to Announcement No. 4544/TB-LDTBXH issued on October 25, 2019, for the Lunar New Year 2020, officials and public employees will have a consecutive 07-day Tet holiday, from Thursday, January 23, 2020 to the end of Wednesday, January 29, 2020 (from the 29th of December in the year Ky Hoi to the 5th of January in the year Canh Ty).

Since January 25, 2020, and January 26, 2020 (i.e., the 1st and 2nd days of the Lunar New Year) fall on Saturday and Sunday, which are weekly days off, Vietnamese officials and public employees will take compensatory days off on January 28, 2020, and January 29, 2020 (i.e., the 4th and 5th days of the Lunar New Year).

2. Entitled to at least 300% salary if on duty during Tet, 390% salary if on night duty

Per the above regulations, during Tet holidays, teachers are entitled to days off with full pay (including allowances). No one has the right to force teachers to be on duty at school during these days.

However, the school may reach an agreement with teachers regarding being on duty during Tet, in which case teachers will receive overtime pay as stipulated in Clause 2, Article 12 of the Law on Public Employees 2010.

Article 12. Rights of public employees regarding salary and related policies

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2. Entitled to overtime pay, night work pay, travel allowances, and other policies as stipulated by the law and the regulations of the public service provider.

While on duty during Tet, teachers will receive overtime pay, night work pay, travel allowances, and other policies as stipulated by the law and the regulations of the public service provider. Specifically, as stipulated in Article 97 of the Labor Code 2012 (guided by Article 25 of Decree 05/2015/ND-CP):

Article 97. Overtime pay and night work pay

1. Employees working overtime are paid based on their salary unit price or wages of their current work as follows:

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c) On public holidays, paid holidays, at least 300% excluding the pay for holidays and paid days off for employees paid daily wages.

2. Employees working at night are paid an additional amount of at least 30% of the salary unit price or wage of the normal working day.

3. Employees working overtime at night are paid an additional 20% of their salary unit price or wage of their daily work apart from the respective amounts defined in Clauses 1 and 2.

Thus, if teachers are on duty at school during Tet holidays, they will be paid an additional amount of 300% of the Tet holiday wages, if they have to work at night during the Lunar New Year 2020, their total pay will be 390% of the normal working day's wage. Furthermore, when assigning Tet duty, the school administration must comply with the following conditions:

- Securing the teachers' consent;- Ensuring that the overtime hours do not exceed 50% of the normal working hours in one day; if applying the weekly work regime, the total normal working hours and overtime hours do not exceed 12 hours in one day; not exceeding 30 hours in one month and not exceeding 200 hours in one year, except for specific cases stipulated by the Government of Vietnam, where overtime hours do not exceed 300 hours in one year;- After each session of continuous overtime work for many days in a month, the school administration must arrange compensatory time off for the teachers for the hours not taken off.

3. Teachers may not receive Tet bonuses

Specifically, according to Clause 3, Article 12 of the Law on Public Employees 2010, public employees are entitled to bonuses as stipulated by law and the regulations of the public service provider.

Article 12. Rights of public employees regarding salary and related policies

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3. Entitled to bonuses and merit salary increments as stipulated by the law and the regulations of the public service provider.

Therefore, under the above regulations, state agencies and public service providers are not required to give Tet bonuses to their employees. The decision to give Tet bonuses is at the discretion of the respective agency or unit based on their budget, revenue, and work performance of each official and public employee. Thus, if some schools do not provide Tet bonuses to their teachers, it is not considered a legal violation. In cases where there are Tet bonuses, the amount is determined by the respective agencies and units based on their internal regulations, as the law does not stipulate specific requirements for Tet bonuses.

Nguyen Trinh

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