The 2019 Labor Code was passed by the 14th National Assembly, during its 8th session on November 20, 2019. One of the noteworthy contents in this Code is the regulation of prohibited acts by employers in relation to employees.
Article table of contents
Image for illustration purposes
Specifically, the behaviors that employers are absolutely prohibited from committing towards employees starting from January 01, 2021 include:
Discrimination in employment.
Mistreatment of employees, forced labor.
Sexual harassment at the workplace.
Exploiting the pretense of vocational training to profiteer, exploit labor, or coerce, entice, or compel trainees into illegal activities.
Employing untrained labor or those without national vocational skill certificates for jobs that require trained labor or must have national vocational skill certificates.
Coercing, enticing, promising, falsely advertising, or using other manipulative measures to deceive employees or recruit them with the intent of trafficking, exploiting, forcing labor, or abusing employment services and activities of sending laborers to work overseas under contracts to perform illegal acts.
Illegally employing minors.
Retaining original personal identification papers, degrees, or certificates of employees.
Requiring employees to provide financial guarantees or other assets for the fulfillment of labor contracts.
Forcing employees to perform labor contracts to repay debts to the employer.
Applying probation for employees who enter into labor contracts with a term of less than 01 month.
Unilaterally terminating labor contracts in the following cases:
- When employees are sick or injured, receiving treatment or convalescence as prescribed by competent medical establishments, except as provided in point b, clause 1, Article 36 of this Code;
- When employees are on annual leave, personal leave, or other leave agreed by the employer;
- Female employees during pregnancy; employees during maternity leave or raising children under 12 months old;
- Disciplining employees during the following periods:
- Sick leave, convalescence; leave approved by the employer;
- Under temporary detention or custody;
- Awaiting results from competent authorities on investigation, verification, and conclusion of acts specified in clause 1 and clause 2, Article 125 of this Code;
- Female employees during pregnancy; employees during maternity leave or raising children under 12 months old.
Disciplining employees who breach labor discipline while suffering from mental illness or another illness that causes loss of cognitive ability or incapacity to control their behavior.
Violating employees' health, honor, life, reputation, or dignity when disciplining.
Fining, deducting salaries in place of disciplining.
Disciplining employees for acts not stipulated in the company's labor rules, not agreed upon in the signed labor contract, or not provided by labor law.
Restricting or interfering with employees' autonomy in spending their salaries; forcing employees to use their salary to buy goods or services of the employer or a unit designated by the employer.
In addition to the behaviors listed above, the Labor Code 2019 also prohibits or requires enterprises not to undertake certain actions towards employees who are disabled, minors, elderly, etc.
See other contents of the Labor Code 2019 HERE.
Nguyen Trinh
