Who has the competence to conclude employment contracts in Vietnam?

What is employment contract?

According to the provisions of Article 13 of the Labor Code 2019, an employment contract is an agreement between an employee and an employer on a paid job, salary, working conditions, and the rights and obligations of each party in the labor relations.

A document with a different name is also considered an employment contract if it contains the agreement on the paid job, salary, management and supervision of a party.

Before recruiting an employee, the employer shall enter into an employment contract with such employee.

Who has the competence to conclude employment contracts in Vietnam? (Internet image)

Obligations to provide information before conclusion of an employment contract in Vietnam

According to the provisions of Article 16 of the Labor Code 2019, the obligations to provide information before conclusion of an employment contract in Vietnam are as follows:

- The employer shall provide the employee with truthful information about the job, workplace, working conditions, working hours, rest periods, occupational safety and health, wage, forms of wage payment, social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, regulations on business secret, technological know-how, and other issues directly related to the conclusion of the employment contract if requested by the employee.

- The employee shall provide the employer with truthful information about his/her full name, date of birth, gender, residence, educational level, occupational skills and qualifications, health conditions and other issues directly related to the conclusion of the employment contract which are requested by the employer.

Who has the competence to conclude employment contracts in Vietnam? 

According to the provisions of Article 18 of the Labor Code 2019, the authority to sign a labor contract on the side of the employee and the employer is as follows:

(i) On the employee's side:

In respect of seasonal works or certain jobs which have a duration of less than 12 months, a group of employees aged 18 or older may authorized the representative of the group to conclude the employment contract, in which case such employment contract shall be effective as if it was separately concluded by each of the employees.

The employment contract concluded by the said representative must be enclosed with a list clearly stating the full names, ages, genders, residences and signatures of all employees concerned.

The person who concludes the employment contract on the employee’s side shall be:

- The employee himself/herself if he/she is 18 or older;

- The employee aged 15 to under 18 with a written consensus by his/her legal representative;

- The employee aged under 15 and his/her legal representative;

- The employee lawfully authorized by the group of employees to conclude the employment contract.

(ii) On the employer's  side:

The person who concludes the employment contract on the employer’s side shall be:

- The legal representative of the enterprise or an authorized person as prescribed by law;

- The head of the organization that is a juridical person, or an authorized person as prescribed by law;

- The representative of the household, artels or an organization that is not a juridical person, or an authorized person as prescribed by law;

- The individual who directly hires the employee.

Mai Thanh Loi

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