Labor Code 2019 of Vietnam: 02 forms of employment contract

Specifically, according to Article 14 of the Labor Code 2019 of Vietnam, forms of employment contract are stipulated as follows:

“Article 14. Forms of employment contract

1. An employment contract shall be concluded in writing and made into two copies, one of which will be kept by the employee, the other by the employer, except for the case specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

An employment contract in the form of electronic data conformable with electronic transaction laws shall have the same value as that of a physical contract.

2. Both parties may conclude an oral contract with a term of less than 01 month, except for the cases specified in Clause 2 Article 18, Point a Clause 1 Article 145 and Clause 1 Article 162 of this Labor Code.”

Currently, according to Article 16 of the Labor Code 2012 of Vietnam, forms of labor contract are stipulated as follows:

“Article 16. Forms of labor contract

1. A labor contract must be established in writing and made in two copies, one to be kept by the employee and the other by the employer, except the case stated in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. For temporary jobs with a duration of under 3 months, the parties may enter into a verbal labor contract.”

Thus, it can be seen that the Labor Code 2019 of Vietnam has supplemented that an employment contract shall be concluded in the form of electronic data conformable with electronic transaction laws. However, it should be clarified that the form of entering into a written contract is understood not only in paper form but also in the form of email, electronic transactions. Therefore, an employment contract concluded in the form of electronic data shall be considered concluded as a written labor contract.

To be more certain of the above statement, in the opinion of Deputy Director of the Legal Department - Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs - Pham Thi Thanh Viet: “An employment contract in the form of electronic data conformable with electronic transaction laws shall have the same value as that of a physical contract. This regulation is consistent with the Law on Electronic Transactions 2005 and facilitates the parties to sign labor contracts more flexibly in the context of the 4.0 technology revolution. Under the impact of the 4th industrial revolution, the process of international economic integration, the explosion of information technology and global labor mobility, the form of “written” labor contract is not only understood in the form of “paper” but also exists in the form of email, electronic transactions and can be accompanied by a digital signature.”

Therefore, as analyzed above, from 2021, labor contracts will still be concluded through one of two forms: concluding a written contract and concluding a verbal labor contract. However, a labor contract shall be concluded in writing or in the form of electronic data (email, electronic transactions accompanied by a digital signature) conformable with electronic transaction laws.

Ty Na

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