Fines of up to 25 million VND for act of employers keeping keep employees' original diplomas and certificates in Vietnam

Fines of up to 25 million VND for act of employers keeping keep employees' original diplomas and certificates in Vietnam (Internet image)

Currently, many businesses, when signing labor contracts, require to keep the original diplomas and certificates of the workers, in order to cause mental pressure and coercion at work, workers do not dare to unilaterally terminate the contract for fear of losing their original degrees or certificates because he did not know this regulation, he agreed to sign the labor contract and gave the original certificate to the employer.

Regarding this issue, Article 17 of the Labor Code 2019 specifically stipulates as follows:

Article 17. Prohibited acts by employers during conclusion and performance of employment contracts

1. Keeping the employee’s original identity documents, diplomas and certificates.

2. Requesting the employee to make a deposit in cash or property as security for his/her performance of the employment contract.

3. Forcing the employee to keep performing the employment contract to pay debt to the employer.

Thus, if there is a violation of entering into or implementing a labor contract, penalties will be imposed according to Article 8 ofDecree 28/2020/ND-CP; specifically, the penalties are as follows:

*** Fine from 20,000,000 VND to 25,000,000 VND for employers who commit one of the following acts:

(i) Keep original copies of identification documents, diplomas, and certificates of employees when concluding or implementing labor contracts;

(ii) Force the employee to provide security in money or other assets for the performance of the labor contract;

(iii) Conclude a labor contract with an employee from 15 years old to under 18 years old without the written consent of the employee's legal representative.

In addition, users must take remedial measures as follows:

- For item (i) above: the employee is forced to return the original identification documents, diplomas, and certificates kept by the employee;

- For item (ii) above: the employee is required to return money or property kept by the employee plus interest on the money kept by the employee, calculated according to the highest interest rate on demand deposits announced by state-owned commercial banks at the time of sanction.

In addition, Decree 28/2020/ND-CP also stipulates that imposing fines on employers that commit one of the following violations: Failing to enter into a written labor contract with respect to jobs with a term of full 3 months or more; failing to enter into the right type of labor contract with workers; entering into a labor contract without fully covering the major contents of the labor contract; concluding labor contracts in case of hiring an employee to hold office as a director in an enterprise with State capital not prescribed by law at one of the following rates of fine:

- A fine ranging from VND 2,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 to be imposed if the violation involves 01 – 10 employees;

- A fine ranging from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10.000.000 to be imposed if the violation involves 11 – 50 employees;

- A fine ranging from VND 10,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 to be imposed if the violation involves 51 – 100 employees;

- A fine ranging from VND 15,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 to be imposed if the violation involves 101 – 300 employees;

- A fine ranging from VND 20,000,000 to VND 25,000,000 to be imposed if the violation involves 301 or more employees.

Thus, if the employer keeps the employee's original diplomas, certificates, or personal identification papers, they will be fined up to 25 million VND and forced to return the original identification documents, diplomas, and certificates held by the employee.

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