In reality, there have been many cases where employees terminate their labor contracts with the company but still owe money to the company due to salary advances, borrowing money for personal consumption, retaining travel expenses, etc. So, what should the business do in these situations?
Article table of contents
Employee resigns while still owing the company: What should the enterprise do? (Illustration)
1. Can the enterprise refuse an employee's resignation?
Pursuant to the current labor laws, employees have the right to unilaterally terminate their contract if they fall under one of the cases stipulated in Clause 1, Article 37 of the Labor Code 2012, including:
- Not being assigned the job, workplace, or not being provided the working conditions as agreed in the labor contract;- Not being paid fully or on time as agreed in the labor contract;- Being maltreated, sexually harassed, or subjected to forced labor;- The employee or their family is in difficult circumstances that cannot continue to execute the labor contract;- Being elected to perform professional duties in an elected body or being appointed to hold a position in the state machinery;- Female employee is pregnant and must take leave as directed by a competent medical facility;- The employee is sick or injured, having received treatment for 90 consecutive days for those working under fixed-term labor contracts, and a quarter of the term for seasonal labor contracts or specific jobs under 12 months, and their working capacity has not yet been recovered.
Simultaneously, the employee must give a prior notice within the period specified in Clause 2, Article 37 of the Labor Code 2012.
Thus, in any case, where the employee has given proper prior notice and falls under one of the cases where unilateral termination of the labor contract is allowed, the enterprise is obliged to let the employee resign.
2. How to handle employees resigning while still owing money to the enterprise?
In the case where, upon termination of the labor contract, the employee still owes the enterprise an amount of money, the enterprise may apply Clause 2, Article 47 of the Labor Code 2012 to require the employee to fulfill their debt obligation to the enterprise after the termination of the labor contract. Accordingly:
Within 07 working days from the date of termination of the labor contract, both parties are responsible for fully settling all relevant amounts related to the interests of each party; in special cases, this period can be extended but not exceeding 30 days.
Thus, after terminating the labor contract, the enterprise and the employee have a maximum of 30 days to complete the payment of debts and other amounts related to the interests of each party. During this period, the employee must also repay to the enterprise amounts including surplus business trip expenses, customer collections, salary advances, and other advances or loans received from the enterprise.
If the deadline is exceeded and the employee has not fulfilled their debt obligation, the enterprise can resolve the matter in one of the following two ways:
- Civil Resolution: The enterprise can initiate a lawsuit against the employee to court to request the court to compel the employee to fulfill their debt obligation to the enterprise under Article 466 of the Civil Code 2015.
- Criminal Resolution: If the enterprise has sufficient grounds to believe that the employee is intentionally avoiding fulfilling their debt obligation to the enterprise, the enterprise may file a criminal denunciation with the police or the nearest People's Procuracy to have the authorities investigate, clarify, and handle according to the law, while simultaneously recovering the legitimate assets for the enterprise, pursuant to Article 175 of the current Criminal Code concerning the offense of abusing trust to appropriate property.
Duc Thao
