Things to know when hiring minor employees in Vietnam

Things to know when hiring minor employees in Vietnam (Internet image)

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

1. Who are minor employees?

According to Clause 1, Article 143 of the Labor Code 2019, a minor employee is an employee under 18 years of age.

2. Works for minor employees in Vietnam

2.1 Works where persons under 13 years of age may be employed

According to Clause 3, Article 145 of the Labor Code 2019, employers must not hire people under 13 to do works other than sports and arts, provided they do not affect their development of their physical health, mental health and personality, and the employment is accepted by the provincial labor authority.

Note: Hiring employees under 13 years old must be approved by the specialized labor agency under the Provincial People's Committee.

2.2 Works where persons from 13 to under 15 years of age may be employed

Article 8 of Circular 09/2020/TT-BLDTBXH stipulates that works where persons from 13 to under 15 years of age may be employed include:

- Art performers.

- Athletes.

- Software programming.

- Traditional crafts: pottery dot painting; mussel shell sawing; bamboo paper making; leaf hat making; hat dot painting; sleeping mat weaving; drum making; brocade weaving; brocade embroidering; rice noodle making; vermicelli making; bean sprout making; rice paper making;

Silk weaving; lotus silk winding; lacquer painting, incense making, votive paper making (excluding stages where toxic chemicals such as paint made from wax tree, bleach, colorants, fragrance additives, etc. are used).

- Handicrafts: lace weaving; decorative woodworking; horn comb making; folk painting (Dong Ho painting, Hang Trong painting, etc.); making toy figurines from rice powder; woodcut painting, attaching additional layers to silk painting;

Collecting mollusk shells for paintings; painting polishing; bead bracelet making, handcrafted jewelry polishing; puppet making; greeting card making, making paper decorations for greeting cards; making painting frames, paper models, paper boxes and paper bags.

- Weaving and making household articles and handmade articles using natural ingredients such as plants of the Calameae tribe, bamboo, coconut tree, banana plant, common water hyacinth, jute, sedge, forked ferns, etc.

- Cured pork wrapping, candy wrapping and cake wrapping (excluding use of wrapping equipment).

- Silkworm raising.

- Removing weeds from vegetable gardens; collecting seasonal vegetables and fruit.

- Herding livestock in farms.

- Assisting with untangling fishnets, weaving fishnets and drying aquatic products.

- Cutting threads, sewing buttons, sewing button holes and packing hand-woven products into boxes.

3. Regulations on employment of employees under 15 in Vietnam

The employment of employees under 15 is specifically guided in Chapter II of Circular 09/2020/TT-BLDTBXH. However, when employing a person under 15, the employer shall:

- Conclude a written contract with the employee and his/her legal representative;

- Arrange the working hours so as not to affect the employee’s study hours;

- Obtain the health certificate from a competent health facility which certifies that the employee’s health is suitable for the work assigned, and provide periodic health check-up for the employee at least once every 06 months;

- Ensure that the working conditions, occupational safety and health are suitable for the employee’s age;

4. Working hours of minors employees

- The working hours of minor employees under 15 shall not exceed 04 hours per day and 20 hours per week. Employers must not request minor employees to work overtime or at night.

- The working hours of employees aged 15 to under 18 shall not exceed 08 hours per day and 40 hours per week.

Employees aged 15 to under 18 may work overtime or at night in certain works and jobs listed by the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

(Article 146 of the Labor Code 2019)

5. Rules for employment of minors

- Minor employees may only do works that are suitable for their health in order to ensure their physical health, mental health and personality development.

- The employer who has minor employees has the responsibility to take care of their work, health and education in the course of their employment.

- When an employer hires a minor employee, the employer must have the consent of his/her parent or guardian; prepare a separate record which writes in full of his/her name, date of birth, the work assigned, results of periodical health check-ups, and shall be presented at the request of the competent authority.

- Employers shall enable minor employees to have educational and vocational training.

(Article 144 of the Labor Code 2019)

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh

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