What are the penalties for violations against regulations on working hours and rest periods in Vietnam?

What are the penalties for violations against regulations on working hours and rest periods in Vietnam? (Internet image) 

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

1. Does organizing overtime require the employee's consent?

According to Clause 2, Article 107 of the Labor Code 2019, an employer has the right to request an employee to work overtime when all of the following conditions are met:

- The employee agrees to work overtime;

- The number of overtime working hours of the employee does not exceed 50% of the normal working hours in 01 day; in case of weekly work, the total normal working hours plus overtime working hours shall not exceed 12 hours in 01 day, and 40 hours in 01 month;

- The total overtime working hours do not exceed 200 hours in 01 year, except for the cases specified in Clause 3 of Article 107 of the Labor Code 2019.

In addition, Article 59 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP stipulates the employee's consent as follows:

Except for the cases specified in Section 3, the employer must obtain the employees’ consent to the following matters when organizing overtime work:

- Overtime hours;

- Overtime location;

- Overtime works.

Thus, when organizing overtime, the employer must notify and obtain the employee's consent, except for overtime in special cases.

2. What are the penalties for violations against regulations on working hours and rest periods in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Article 18 of Decree 12/2022/ND-CP, penalties for violations against regulations on working hours and rest periods in Vietnam are as follows:

- A fine ranging from VND 2.000.000 to VND 5.000.000 shall be imposed upon an employer for commission of one of the following violations:

+ Failing to grant personal leave or unpaid leave to employees in accordance with regulations of law;

+ Failing to send a written notification of organization of overtime working hours in excess of 200 hours to 300 hours in a year to the Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the province where such overtime works are performed and of the province where it is headquartered.

- A fine ranging from VND 10.000.000 to VND 20.000.000 shall be imposed upon an employer for committing violations against regulations on weekly breaks or annual leave or public holidays.

- A fine ranging from VND 20.000.000 to VND 25.000.000 shall be imposed upon an employer for commission of one of the following violations:

+ Applying normal working hours exceeding the working hours prescribed by law;

+ Mobilizing employees to work overtime without their consent, except for the cases specified in Article 108 of the Labor Code 2019.

- The following fines shall be imposed upon an employer for commission of one of the following violations: failing to give rest breaks during working hours or breaks between shifts to employees in accordance with regulations of law; mobilizing employees to work overtime in excess of overtime hours prescribed by law:

+ A fine ranging from VND 5.000.000 to VND 10.000.000 shall be imposed if the violation involves 01 - 10 employees;

+ A fine ranging from VND 10.000.000 to VND 20.000.000 shall be imposed if the violation involves 11 - 50 employees;

+ A fine ranging from VND 20.000.000 to VND 40.000.000 shall be imposed if the violation involves 51 - 100 employees;

+ A fine ranging from VND 40.000.000 to VND 60.000.000 shall be imposed if the violation involves 101 - 300 employees;

+ A fine ranging from VND 60.000.000 to VND 75.000.000 shall be imposed if the violation involves 301 employees or more.

Thus, according to the above regulations, except for some specific cases, organizing overtime without the consent of the employee will be administratively sanctioned with a fine from 20,000,000 VND to 25,000.000 VND.

Note: The fines specified above are fines for individuals. The fine for organizations is 2 times the fine for individuals.

(Clause 1, Article 6, Decree 12/2022/ND-CP)

3. Cases of overtime working in special cases in Vietnam

In the following cases, an employer has the right to request any employee to work overtime on any day without limits on the overtime hours as prescribed in Article 107 of the Labor Code 2019 and the employee must not decline:

- Execution of a conscription order for the purpose of national security or national defense as prescribed by law;

- Performance of tasks necessary to protect human life or property of certain organizations or individuals in the prevention and recovery of natural disasters, fires, epidemics and disasters, unless those tasks threaten the employees’ health or life as prescribed by occupational safety and health laws.

(Article 108 of the Labor Code 2019)

Nguyen Ngoc Que Anh

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