Only a few days left, the Labor Code 2019 of Vietnam will officially take effect. This Code has many new points that directly affect the rights of employees. One of them is the provision that the employee has the right to authorize others to receive his/her salary.
Article table of contents
Specifically, according to Article 94 of the Labor Code 2019 of Vietnam, salary payment rules are as follows:
Article 94. Salary payment rules
1. Employers shall directly, fully and punctually pay salaries to their employees. In the cases where an employee is not able to directly receive his/her salary, the employer may pay it through a person legally authorized by the employee.
2. Employers must not restrict or interfere with their employees’ spending of their salaries; must not force their employees to spend their salaries on goods or services of the employers or any particular providers decided by the employers.
A remarkable new point in this regulation is that in the cases where an employee is not able to directly receive his/her salary, the employer may pay it through a person legally authorized by the employee. Currently, according to Article 96 of the Labor Code 2012 of Vietnam, it is only stipulated that “An employee must be paid with a full wage in a direct and timely manner”. Thus, authorizing others to receive salaries is a completely new regulation that will be applied from January 01, 2021. On the other hand, the Labor Code 2019 of Vietnam does not stipulate mandatory conditions to be authorized or limit the authorization to whom, so the husband's salary can be transferred directly to his wife's account in the near future.
In addition to the rule of authorizing others to receive salaries, Article 94 of the Labor Code 2019 of Vietnam also stipulates the rule that when paying wages to employees, employers must not restrict or interfere with their employees’ spending of their salaries. Concurrently, employers must not force their employees to spend their salaries on goods or services of the employers or any particular providers decided by the employers.
Regarding the principle of settlement of benefits for employees whose salary is delayed, Article 96 of the Labor Code 2012 of Vietnam stipulates as follows:
In special cases in which an employer cannot pay a wage on time to an employee, the employer may not postpone the payment for more than 1 month and shall pay the employee with an additional amount at least equal to the deposit interest rate announced by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of wage payment.
This issue is stipulated in Clause 4 Article 97 of the Labor Code 2019 of Vietnam as follows:
In case of a force majeure event in which the employer is unable to pay the employee on schedule after all remedial measures have been implemented, the salary shall be paid within 30 days. In case a salary is paid at least 15 days behind schedule, the employer shall pay the employee a compensation that is worth at least the interest on the amount paid behind schedule at the latest 1-month interest rate quoted by the bank at which the employee’s salary account is opened.
According to this provision, from 2021, employees who are delayed in paying their wages for 15 days or more will receive an additional amount in addition to the received salary. This amount is calculated at least equal to the interest on the amount paid behind schedule at the latest 1-month interest rate quoted by the bank at which the employee’s salary account is opened.
Thuy Tram
- Key word:
- Labor Code 2019 of Vietnam
