Vietnam: What are included in the wage written in the employment contract?

According to Circular No. 23/2015/TT-BLĐTBXH of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam, the wage written in the employment contract is agreed between the employee and employer for performance of certain tasks, including:

- The pay rate corresponding to the job or position according to the pay scale established by the employer in accordance with Article 93 of the Labor Code, Article 7, Clause 2 Article 10 of Decree No. 49/2013/NĐ-CP of Vietnam’s Government dated May 14, 2013 on guidelines for some Articles on wages of the Labor Code;

- Allowances meant to make up for working conditions, work complications, living conditions, necessity of labor attraction that are not taken into account or not adequately included in the wage corresponding to the tasks or positions on the pay scale. To be specific:

+ Making up for working conditions, including arduous, harmful, dangerous works, or particularly arduous, harmful, dangerous works.

+ Making up for work complications such as works that require training, professional skills and knowledge, heavy responsibility, affecting other works, requiring long experience, working skills, communications skills, and cooperation.

+ Making up for living conditions such as works in remote areas, disadvantaged areas with extreme climate, expensive areas with housing difficulties; works that require employees to frequently change the workplace, residence, and other factor that make the employees’ life inconvenient.

+ Labor attraction such as encouraging workers to new economic areas, new markets; unattractive jobs that lack workers; encouraging workers with high productivity and work quality or able to meet work schedules.

- Additional payments are amounts in addition to wage and allowances related to the job or position written in the employment contract. Additional payments do not include: bonus prescribed in Article 103 of the Labor Code; payment for mid-shift meals; assistance for employees upon death, marriage of their relatives, employees’ birthday parties, assistance for employees having difficulties from occupational accidents, occupational diseases, other assistance and allowance not related to the job or position written in the employment contract.

Concurrently, the wage paid to an employee depends on the wage written in the employment contract, productivity, work load, and work quality of the employee. The wage paid to the employee that does the simplest job in normal working conditions for normal working hours and completes the given workload or tasks (not including overtime pay or night work pay) must not fall below the region-based minimum pay rates prescribed by the government.

View more details at Circular No. 23/2015/TT-BLĐTBXH of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam, effective from August 08, 2015.

Le Hai

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