Effective date and effective period of collective bargaining agreements in Vietnam

Effective date and effective period of collective bargaining agreements in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. Effective date and effective period of collective bargaining agreements in Vietnam

Effective date and effective period of collective bargaining agreements in Vietnam according to Article 78 of the Labor Code 2019 are as follows:

- The effective date of a collective bargaining agreement shall be agreed upon by the parties and specified in the agreement itself. In case the parties do not agree upon an effective date, the collective bargaining agreement shall be effective on its conclusion date.

An effective collective bargaining agreement shall be upheld by the parties.

- An enterprise-level effective collective bargaining agreement shall be binding on the employer and all employees of the enterprise. An effective sectoral or multi-level collective bargaining agreement shall be binding on all employers and employees of the participating enterprises.

- The effective period of a collective bargaining agreement shall 01 – 03 years. The specific effective period shall be agreed upon by the parties and specified in the collective bargaining agreement. The parties may agree upon various effective periods for different parts of a collective bargaining agreement.

2. Regulations on implementation of enterprise-level collective bargaining agreements in Vietnam

Regulations on implementation of enterprise-level collective bargaining agreements according to Article 79 of the Labor Code 2019 are as follows:

- The employer and the employees, including new employees who are employed after the collective bargaining agreement has come into effect, shall be responsible for the full implementation of the effective collective bargaining agreement.

- Where the rights, responsibilities and interests of the parties stipulated in the employment contract which were concluded before the effective date of the collective bargaining agreement are less favorable than those of respective provisions provided in the collective bargaining agreement, the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement shall prevail.

Internal labor regulations of the employer which are not conformable with the collective bargaining agreement shall be revised accordingly. Provisions of the collective bargaining agreement shall apply until such revisions are made.

- Where a party considers that the other party does not perform fully or violates the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement, the former has the right to request the latter to fully comply with the agreement, and both parties must jointly settle the issue. In case of failure to settle the issue, either party has the right to request settlement of the collective labor dispute in accordance with the law.

3. Regulations on survey and conclusion of collective bargaining agreements in Vietnam

According to Article 76 of the Labor Code 2019, regulations on survey and conclusion of collective bargaining agreements are as follows:

- Before an enterprise-level collective bargaining agreement is concluded, its draft must be made available for comment by all employees of the enterprise. An enterprise-level collective bargaining agreement shall only be concluded if it is voted for by more than 50% of the enterprise’s employees.

- A sectoral collective bargaining agreement shall be available for comment by all members of the management boards of the representative organizations of employees of the enterprises participating in the bargaining. A sectoral collective bargaining agreement shall only be concluded if it is voted for by more than 50% of the voters.

A multi-enterprise collective bargaining agreement shall be available for comment by all employees of the enterprises participating in the bargaining or members of management boards of the representative organizations of employees thereof. Only an enterprise more than 50% of employees of which vote for the multi-enterprise collective bargaining agreement may participate in its conclusion.

- The time and location for casting votes on a draft collective bargaining agreement shall be decided by the representative organization of employees as long as it does not affect the participating enterprises’ normal business operation. The employers must not obstruct or interfere with process of voting on the draft agreement by the representative organizations of employees.

- A collective bargaining agreement shall be concluded by legal representatives of the parties.

In case a multi-enterprise collective bargaining agreement is negotiated via a collective bargaining council, it shall be concluded by the chairperson of the council and legal representatives of the parties.

- A copy of the collective bargaining agreement shall be sent to every party and the provincial labor authority in accordance with Article 77 of the Labor Code 2019.

In case of a sectoral or multi-enterprise collective bargaining agreement, each employer and representative organization of employees of the participating enterprises shall receive 01 copy.

- After a collective bargaining agreement is concluded, the employer must make publicly available to their employees.

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