VI In the context of Vietnam’s economy on the track of strong integration and development, building a professional, disciplined, and transparent working environment is a vital factor for the sustainable development of every enterprise. To achieve this, internal labor regulations are not merely an internal management document, but also an essential legal corridor that helps balance the rights and obligations between employees and employers, while minimizing unnecessary disputes. Aiming to establish a standardized operational framework and mitigate legal risks for your entity, let us join Pham Consult in exploring the provisions of the current Vietnamese labor law regarding the internal labor regulations of enterprises.
- Responsibility to issue internal labor regulations
Pursuant to Article 118 of the Labor Code 2019 and Article 69 of Decree No. 145/2020/ND-CP, enterprises must issue internal labor regulations. If an enterprise employs 10 or more employees, the internal labor regulations must be in writing; if it employs fewer than 10 employees, a written issuance of internal labor regulations is not mandatory, but contents regarding labor discipline and material responsibility must be agreed upon in the employment contract.
Before issuing or amending and supplementing the internal labor regulations, the employer must consult the grassroots employee representative organization where such grassroots employee representative organization exists.
After issuance, the internal labor regulations must be sent to each grassroots employee representative organization (if any) and notified to the employees, and the main contents must be publicly posted at necessary places within the workplace.
- Contents of internal labor regulations
Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 118 of the Labor Code 2019 and Clause 2, Article 69 of Decree No. 145/2020/ND-CP, the internal labor regulations shall comprise the following primary contents:
– Working hours and rest periods:
Normal working hours per day and per week; shifts; starting time and ending time of shifts; overtime (if any); overtime in special cases; timing of short breaks other than rest breaks during working hours; breaks between shifts; weekly days off; annual leave, personal leave, and unpaid leave.
– Workplace order:
Permissible areas of work and movement during working hours; code of conduct and workplace attire; compliance with job assignment and mobilization.
– Occupational safety and health at the workplace:
Responsibilities to comply with regulations, internal rules, processes, and measures to ensure occupational safety, occupational health, and fire and explosion prevention; use and preservation of personal protective equipment and devices ensuring occupational safety and health at the workplace; cleaning, detoxification, and disinfection at the workplace.
– Prevention and combat of sexual harassment at the workplace; sequence and procedures for handling sexual harassment acts at the workplace:
The enterprise shall stipulate the prevention and combat of sexual harassment in accordance with Article 85 of Decree No. 145/2020/ND-CP.
– Protection of assets, technological secrets, business secrets, and intellectual property of the enterprise:
A list of assets, documents, technological secrets, business secrets, and intellectual property; responsibilities and measures applied to protect assets and secrets; acts violating assets and secrets in accordance with Circular No. 10/2020/TT-BLDTBXH.
– Cases where employees may be temporarily transferred to do work other than that specified in the employment contract:
Specific stipulations on cases where, due to operational and business needs, employees may be temporarily transferred to do work other than that specified in the employment contract in accordance with Clause 1, Article 29 of the Labor Code 2019, which must not exceed 60 cumulative working days within 01 year; cases where an employee is transferred to do work other than that specified in the employment contract for more than 60 cumulative working days within 01 year shall only be implemented upon the written consent of the employee.
– Violations against labor discipline and forms of labor discipline handling:
Specific stipulations on acts violating labor discipline and the forms of labor discipline handling corresponding to such violations.
– Material responsibility:
Stipulations on cases requiring compensation for damage caused by damaging tools or equipment or acts causing damage to assets; losing tools, equipment, or assets, or consuming materials beyond prescribed quotas; the compensation amount corresponding to the level of damage; and the person competent to handle compensation for damage.
– Persons competent to handle labor discipline:
The persons competent to handle labor discipline within an enterprise include the legal representative of the enterprise or an authorized person in accordance with the law:
+ The legal representative of the enterprise or an authorized person in accordance with the law.
+ The head of an agency or organization with legal entity status in accordance with the law or an authorized person in accordance with the law.
- Dossier for registration of internal labor regulations
Pursuant to Article 119 of the Labor Code 2019, an employer employing 10 or more employees must register the internal labor regulations with the specialized labor authority under the People’s Committee of the province where the employer registers its business. A dossier for registration of internal labor regulations under Article 120 of this Code shall comprise the following documents:
– An application form for registration of internal labor regulations;
– The internal labor regulations;
– Written comments from the grassroots employee representative organization where such grassroots employee representative organization exists;
– Documents of the employer containing regulations related to labor discipline and material responsibility (if any).
- Procedures for registration of internal labor regulations
The employer shall register the internal labor regulations with the specialized labor authority under the People’s Committee of the province where the employer registers its business. Within 10 days from the date of issuing the internal labor regulations, the employer must submit the registration dossier.
Within 07 working days from the date of receipt of the registration dossier, if the contents of the internal labor regulations contain provisions contrary to the law, the specialized labor authority under the Provincial People’s Committee shall notify and guide the employer to amend, supplement, and re-register.
An employer who has branches, units, or production and business establishments located in different localities shall send the registered internal labor regulations to the specialized labor authority under the People’s Committee of the province where such branches, units, or production and business establishments are located.
- Validity of internal labor regulations
According to Article 121 of the Labor Code 2019, the internal labor regulations shall take effect 15 days from the date the competent state authority receives the complete dossier for registration of the internal labor regulations.
In cases where an employer employing fewer than 10 employees issues written internal labor regulations, the effective date shall be decided by the employer within the internal labor regulations.
