Procedures for registering labor regulations in Vietnam

Labor regulations are the rules of conduct of an enterprise based on the spirit of labor law. Vietnam’s labor laws are designed to protect the rights and welfare of workers. Failure to comply can result in significant fines and legal consequences, making it imperative for businesses to familiarize themselves with the applicable rules and regulations. To support clients in developing and registering labor regulations at competent state agencies quickly and conveniently, Viet An Law Firm would like to guide procedures for registering labor regulations in Vietnam as follows.

Legal basis

• Labor Code 2019.
• Decree No. 145/2020/ND-CP on elaboration of some Articles of the Labor Code on working conditions and labor relations.
• Decree No. 12/2022/ND-CP on penalties for administrative violations against regulations on labor, social insurance, and Vietnamese guest workers.

• Circular 10/2020/TT-BLDTBXH on elaborating and guiding certain articles of the Labor Code concerning employment contracts, collective bargaining council, and jobs with hazards to reproductive function and children raising;

Concept of internal labor regulations under Vietnamese law

• Labor regulations are a document issued by the employer to create and maintain discipline in the unit’s labor and improve productivity, quality, and efficiency of production and business processes.
• Labor regulations are also the basis for disciplinary action against employees who commit violations.
• Promulgating labor regulations is a statutory obligation of employers.

In case labor regulations must be registered in Vietnam

• According to Article 118 of the Labor Code2019, if a company employs 10 or more employees, it is required to issue labor regulations in written form and register labor regulations at a competent state agency.
• In case the company employs less than 10 employees, the employer has the right not to be required to issue written labor regulations and not to register labor regulations. However, the employer must agree on the content of labor discipline and material responsibilities in the labor contract with the employee (as guided by Circular 10/2020/TT-BLDTBXH).

Issuance of labor regulations

Before issuance

The employer must consult with the representative organization of employees at the facility for places where there is a representative organization of employees at the unit. Consultation with the representative organization of workers at the unit is carried out by the regulations on Organizing dialogue when an incident occurs. Specifically:

• The employer is responsible for sending the document with the content that needs to be consulted and exchanged opinions to the representative members participating in the dialogue of the employee side (company union representatives);
• The representative members participating in the dialogue of the workers’ side are responsible for organizing the collection of opinions from the workers they represent and synthesizing them into documents from each representative organization of workers at the facility or representative group. dialogue interface of employees to send to employers; In case the content of the dialogue is related to the rights and interests of female workers, it is necessary to ensure that they get their opinions;
• Based on the opinions of the employee representative organizations at the grassroots level, the representative dialogue group of employees and employers organizes dialogues to discuss, exchange opinions, consult, and share. information about the content provided by the employer;
• The number, participants, time, and location of the dialogue are determined by both parties according to grassroots democracy regulations at the workplace;
• Content of dialogue must be recorded in minutes and signed by representatives of the parties participating in the dialogue;
• No later than 03 working days from the end of the dialogue, the employer is responsible for publicly announcing the main contents of the dialogue at the workplace; The employee representative organization (if any), the employee dialogue representative group (if any) disseminates the main contents of the dialogue to employee members.

After issuance

• The employer must send to each employee representative organization at the facility (if any) notify all employees, and post the main content at necessary places in the workplace.
• Employers are obliged to notify employees when labor regulations take effect. In addition, the main contents of the labor regulations must be posted at the workplace.

Procedures for registering labor regulations in Vietnam

After being issued legally, the labor regulations will carry out registration procedures at state agencies according to the following steps:

Dossiers composition

• Written request for registration of labor regulations;
• Labor regulations;
• Written comments from the representative organization of workers at the unit (if any);
• The employer’s documents contain regulations related to labor discipline and material responsibility (if any). Drafted enterprise labor regulations;

Procedure for registering labor regulations in Vietnam

• Apply dossier: Within 10 days before the issuance of labor regulations, employees must go to the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs where the employer registers business. Employers need to submit complete dossiers as listed above.
• Receiving documents: After receiving the documents, the competent agency will issue a certificate of receipt of labor regulations to the employer. Within 07 days, if the document needs to be amended or supplemented (due to regulations contrary to the law), the competent agency will notify and instruct the employer to make amendments and supplements and implement re-register procedures.
• Effective: After 15 days from the date the competent authority receives the dossier (or receives the re-registration dossier), if there is no request for amendment or supplement, the dossier will be considered valid by default and the labor regulations will apply. The labor regulation will begin to take effect.

Competent agency processes documents

• Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs where the employer registered business.
• Employers with branches, units, and business locations located in many different areas must send registered labor regulations to the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs where this affiliate unit is located.
• Based on specific conditions, the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs under the Provincial People’s Committee can authorize the specialized labor agency under the District People’s Committee to register labor regulations.

Penalize companies for not registering labor regulations

Article 19.2 of Decree No. 12/2022/ND-CP stipulates a fine from 5,000,000 VND to 10,000,000 VND for employers who commit one of the following acts:

• There are no written labor regulations when employing 10 or more employees;
• Failure to register labor regulations with the provincial state labor management agency;
• Failure to consult with the representative organization of workers at the grassroots level for places where there is a representative organization of workers at the grassroots level before promulgating amending or supplementing labor regulations;

In addition to several other state administrative violations related to the management and promulgation of labor regulations, businesses need to pay special attention to registration procedures. This is the basis to ensure the rights and interests of business employees while ensuring the fulfillment of obligations and the reputation of the employer.

Services of Viet An Law Firm on consulting on drafting labor regulations and registering labor regulations in Vietnam

• Consulting and assisting Clients in drafting labor regulations or directly drafting labor regulations, labor contracts;
• Consulting and representing Clients to carry out procedures for registering labor regulations at competent state agencies;
• Representing Clients to work with competent authorities on related issues that arise

Any difficulties and problems related to procedures for registering labor regulations in Vietnam, please contact Viet An Law Firm for detailed advice!