Highlights of Legal Documents Last Week (from November 05, 2023, to November 10, 2023)

1. New Pension Policy for Female Workers Receiving Pensions from 2018

On November 7, 2018, the Government of Vietnam officially passed Decree 153/2018/ND-CP adjusting pensions for female workers starting to receive pensions from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2021, with social insurance contributions ranging from 20 years to 29 years 6 months.

Depending on the duration of social insurance contributions and the time of starting to receive pensions, the pension amount is adjusted based on the pension amount calculated according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 56, or Clause 2, Article 74 of the 2014 Social Insurance Law plus the adjustment amount.

Adjustment Amount = Pension Amount x Adjustment Rate

In which:

- Pension Amount: Calculated according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 56 or Clause 2, Article 74 of the 2014 Social Insurance Law;- Adjustment Rate: Corresponding to the duration of social insurance contributions and the specific retirement time.

For details, see Decree 153/2018/ND-CP effective from December 24, 2018.

1. Exemption from Organizing Employee Conferences for Enterprises with Less than 10 Employees

This noteworthy content is mentioned in Decree 149/2018/ND-CP guiding Clause 3, Article 63 of the Labor Code on implementing the democratic regulations at the workplace.

Decree 149 clearly states: Employers with less than 10 employees are exempted from organizing an employee conference and issuing the democratic regulations at the workplace in writing.

According to Decree 149, employees have the right to decide on certain matters such as:

- Entering into, negotiating amendments, supplements, and terminations of labor contracts;- Joining or not joining a representative organization of the labor collective at the workplace;- Participating or not participating in a strike according to the law;- Voting on the content of collective bargaining as stipulated by law; voting on the content of the Resolution of the Employee Conference.

Decree 149/2018/ND-CP is effective from January 1, 2019.

1. Temporary Suspension of Import, Export, and Transit Business of Scraps

On November 6, 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Circular 41/2018/TT-BCT attached to the appendix of the List of scraps temporarily suspended for import, export, and transit business, such as:

- Gypsum; anhydrite gypsum; plaster (including calcined gypsum or calcium sulfate), whether or not colored, with or without a small amount of catalyst or inhibitor;- Waste and scrap paper or cardboard;- Scrap and fragments of copper, nickel, aluminum, zinc.

Note:

- For scrap consignments already cleared through customs for temporary import, transit before the effective date of Circular 41, they can continue to be re-exported, transited according to Decree 69/2018/ND-CP;- The above-mentioned list of scraps does not apply to transit business in the form of goods being transported directly from the exporting country to the importing country without passing through Vietnamese ports.

Circular 41/2018/TT-BCT is effective from December 20, 2018, to December 31, 2019.

1. Guidance on Offense Classification for Violations of Wildlife Protection Regulations

The Judicial Council of the Supreme People's Court has recently issued Resolution 05/2018/NQ-HDTP guiding the application of certain circumstances for offense classification in Article 234, Article 244 of the Criminal Code, and Article 106 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Specifically: interpreting several concepts such as:

- Wildlife as stipulated in Article 234 of the Criminal Code;- Other wildlife as stipulated in Article 234 of the Criminal Code;- Endangered, precious, and rare animals as stipulated in Article 244 of the Criminal Code;- Individual;- Inseparable body parts sustaining life;- Products from wildlife, endangered, precious, and rare animals;- Other classes of animals as stipulated in Article 244 of the Criminal Code;- Having been administratively penalized for one of the acts stipulated in this Article according to Point c, Clause 1, Article 234 of the Criminal Code;- Having been administratively penalized for one of the acts stipulated in this Article according to Point e, Clause 1, Article 244 of the Criminal Code.

For detailed guidelines, see Resolution 05/2018/NQ-HDTP effective from December 1, 2018.

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