Competence to settle labor disputes in Vietnam

What is labor dispute?

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 179 of the Labor Code 2019, a labor dispute means a dispute over rights, obligations and interests among the parties during the establishment, execution or termination of labor relation; a dispute between the representative organizations of employees; a dispute over a relationship that is directly relevant to the labor relation.

Types of labor disputes:

(1) Labor disputes between the employee and the employer; between the employee and the organization that sends the employee to work overseas under a contract; between the outsourced worker and the client enterprise.

(2) Right-based or interest-based collective labor disputes between one or several representative organizations of employees and the employer or one or several representative organizations of employees.

- A right-based collective labor dispute of rights means a dispute between one or several representative organizations of employees and the employer or one or several representative organizations of employees in case of:

+ Discrepancies in interpretation and implementation of the collective bargaining agreement, internal labor regulations and other lawful agreements;

+ Discrepancies in interpretation and implementation of labor laws; or

+ The employer’s discrimination against the employees or members of the management board of the representative organization of employees for reasons of establishment, operation or participation in the organization; the employer’s interference or influencing the representative organization of employees; the employer’ violations against amicable negotiation.

- Interest-based collective labor disputes include:

+ Labor disputes that arise during the process of collective bargaining;

+ A party refuses to participate in the collective bargaining or the collective bargaining is not held within the time limit prescribed by law.

Competence to settle labor disputes in Vietnam (Internet image)

Competence to settle labor disputes in Vietnam

(i) Competence to settle individual labor disputes

The following agencies, organizations and individuals have the competence to settle individual labor disputes:

- Labor mediators;

- Labor Arbitration Councils;

- The People’s Court.

Legal basis: Article 187 of the Labor Code 2019.

(ii) Competence to settle right-based collective labor disputes

The following agencies, organizations and individuals have the competence to settle right-based collective labor disputes:

- Labor mediators;

- Labor Arbitration Councils;

- The People’s Court.

Right-based labor disputes shall be settled through mediation by labor mediators before being brought to the Labor Arbitration Council or the Court.

Legal basis: Article 191 of the Labor Code 2019.

(iii) Competence to settle interest-based collective labor disputes

Agencies, organizations and individuals who have the competence to settle interest-based collective labor disputes include:

- Labor mediators;

- Labor Arbitration Councils.

An interest-based collective labor dispute shall be settled through mediation by labor mediators before it is brought to the Labor Arbitration Council or a strike is organized.

Legal basis: Article 195 of the Labor Code 2019.

Mai Thanh Loi

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