Author: Vu Mai Trang

VIETNAM: COVID-19 có phải là sự kiện bất khả kháng không? Pháp luật Việt Nam quy định như thế nào về bất khả kháng, về quyền, nghĩa vụ và trách nhiệm các bên hợp đồng khi xảy ra sự kiện bất khả kháng đó?

Ngày 13 tháng 4 năm 2020

Bất khả kháng là một vấn đề tương đối phức tạp theo quy định của pháp luật Việt Nam. Toà án và trọng tài đã giải quyết nhiều vụ tranh chấp liên quan đến sự kiện bất khả kháng, và không phải cứ xảy ra các sự kiện như được quy định, định nghĩa tại điều khoản về bất khả kháng trong hợp đồng giao kết giữa các bên sẽ đương nhiên được tòa án, trọng tài chấp nhận là sự kiện bất khả kháng, và bên chịu sự tác động của sự án kiện đó sẽ đương nhiên được miễn trừ nghĩa vụ, trách nhiệm của họ quy định trong hợp đồng.

Gần đây có nhiều ý kiến, kể cả ý kiến chuyên môn, về bệnh dịch coronavirus/COVID-19 được đưa ra, thảo luận trên các phương tiện báo chí truyền thông và diễn đàn mạng xã hội, cho rằng bệnh dịch coronavirus/COVID-19 là sự kiện bất khả kháng, và bên chịu sự tác động của sự kiện đó được miễn thực hiện các nghĩa vụ, trách nhiệm của bên đó quy định tại hợp đồng đã giao kết với đối tác, như hợp đồng thuê địa điểm kinh doanh, hợp đồng mua bán hàng hoá, cung ứng dịch vụ, hợp đồng thuê khoán – bao tiêu sản phẩm, hợp đồng tín dụng/vay vốn và nhiều loại hợp đồng khác. Với những thông tin đăng tải trên các phương tiện thông tin truyền thông rộng rãi, nhiều bên đang xem xét thực hiện đơn phương chấm dứt hợp đồng với đối tác, với niềm tin rằng họ sẽ được miễn thực hiện các nghĩa vụ quy định trong hợp đồng đã giao kết. Chúng tôi khuyên bạn hãy thận trọng và nên tham vấn ý kiến của những luật sư có trình độ cao và dày dạn kinh nghiệm trong vấn đề này trước khi thực hiện.

Nhóm luật sư cấp cao của CÔNG TY LUẬT TNHH BIZCONSULT vào chiều thứ Sáu tuần trước (ngày 10/4/2020) đã thảo luận sâu và toàn diện về các nghiên cứu và ý kiến đánh giá của mình về sự kiện bất khả kháng, về sự bùng phát của bệnh dịch coronavirus/COVID-19 và các biện pháp của Chính phủ đang áp dụng ngăn chặn sự lây lan của bệnh dịch, khi nào và trong tình huống nào có thể được xem là sự kiện bất khả kháng, và khi đó quyền, lợi ích, nghĩa vụ và trách nhiệm của mỗi bên trong hợp đồng sẽ được xác định như thế nào theo quy định của pháp luật Việt Nam.

Nếu bạn đang gặp phải những vấn đề nêu trên, hãy liên hệ với chúng tôi để được tư vấn đầy đủ về vụ việc cụ thể của bạn:

Luật sư Nguyễn Anh Tuấn ([email protected])

Luật sư Nguyễn Trọng Nghĩa ([email protected])

CÔNG TY LUẬT TNHH BIZCONSULT (www.bizconsult.vn).

 

 

VIETNAM: Is covid-19 outbreak an event of force majeure? How the laws of Vietnam regulate about force majeure, rights, obligations and responsibilities of parties to a contract in case of occurring an event force majeure?

April 13, 2020

Force majeure is a rather complicated issue under the laws of Vietnam. Courts and arbitrators heard and judged many disputes related to force majeure circumstances, and it should be noted that any occurrence of the events of force majeure defined and regulated in the contracts will be certainly accepted by courts, arbitrators, resulting in a situation that party suffering from such event will certainly be exempted from implementing its obligations, responsibilities stipulated in such contracts.

It has been recently published and discussed in the public communication means, newspapers, and social network forums different views, including legal views, on the coronavirus/COVID-10 pandemic, subjectively judging that coronavirus/COVID-19 epidemic outbreak in Vietnam is an event of force majeure, and party suffering from such event will be exempted from implementing its obligations, responsibilities stipulated in the contracts of various types, such as premise leases for business, sale and purchase contracts, service supply contracts, contracts for “lump system” of products/property, credit/loan agreements and contracts of other types. In consideration of such judgments flood in local mass media, many parties are considering various ways to unilaterally terminate contracts signed with their partners, with a hope that they would be exempted from implementing their contractual obligations, responsibilities. We suggest that you should be careful and should seek advice from counsels of high seniority and long-standing experience on force majeure under the laws of Vietnam before taking action of unilateral termination.

Last Friday, April 10, 2020, a group of high-seniority counsels of BIZCONSULT LAW FIRM have comprehensively discussed on their study and legal assessments on force majeure events, as to when and in what circumstances coronavirus/COVID-19 epidemic disease outbreak and certain preventive measures and lockdowns imposed by the Government of Vietnam for preventing and fighting against the fast and wide spreading of the epidemic disease would be considered a force majeure event, and that in such situation what and how rights, interests, obligations and responsibilities of each party to contract will be determined and judged in accordance with the laws of Vietnam.

If you are facing to any of the above issues, contact us for advice on your specific issue:

Counsel Nguyen Anh Tuan: [email protected]

Counsel Nguyen Trong Nghia: [email protected]

BIZCONSULT LAW FIRM: www.bizconsult.vn

Vietnam: New regulations on automobile transport business

Ngày 06 tháng 4 năm 2020

Lưu ý: “bài viết này chỉ phát hành tiếng Anh cho tạp chí nước ngoài Asian- Mena Counsel”

     

After a long time in the drafting stage, the Government issued Decree No. 10/2020/ND-CP (Decree 10) on January 17, 2020, regulating automobile transport business and conditions for conducting automobile transport business, replacing the Decree No. 86/2014/ND-CP dated September 10, 2014 (“Decree 86”). Decree 10 shall officially take effect from April 1, 2020 and put an end to the pilot application of ride-hailing software for passenger transport business with e-contract which has been applied for more than four years. Some notable new features of Decree 10 are as follows:

Discrimination between automobile transport business providers and providers of application software supporting the transport connection

The most important new point of Decree 10 is the definition that “automobile transport business” means conducting one or more main transport activity (to directly coordinate the vehicles, drivers or to decide the transport fee) to transport passengers or goods on the road for profit. This definition helps discriminating automobile transport business providers from providers of application software supporting the transport connection by the factor of directly coordinating the vehicles, drivers or deciding the transport fee or not.

Furthermore, the Decree also defines “Coordinating vehicles, drivers refers to the process where an organisation or individual assigns a passenger or freight transport task to a driver via the application software supporting the transport connection, a transport order or a transport contract”. This shall help to determine whether technology companies providing ride-hailing transport services be considered as transport business providers or not. If yes, such companies shall be required to obtain Automobile Transport Business Licence and are subject to legal regulations binding automobile transport business companies, including the requirement to sign labour contracts, pay kinds of insurances, periodical health check and other benefits for their employees, including drivers and supporters on automobile.

Relaxing taxis from requirement of light boxes fixed on the car roofs

According to previous regulations, taxies were required to have light boxes with the word “TAXI” fixed on the roof. Now, Decree 10 allows passenger transport by taxi businesses the option of either fixing light boxes with the word “TAXI” on car roofs with a minimum size of 12×30 cm or posting (affixed) the phrase “XE TAXI” (“TAXI CAR”) made of reflective material on the front and rear windshields with the minimum size of the phrase “XE TAXI” (“TAXI CAR”) being 6 x 20 cm.

Rented automobiles, tourist automobiles must have signages and all required information affixed on the vehicle’s bodies

To prevent the problem of illegal transport vehicles, illegal temporary station, Decree 10 requires the rented automobiles to have the signage of “XE HỢP ĐỒNG (“RENTED AUTOMOBILE”), the tourist automobiles to have the signage of “XE DU LỊCH” (“TOURIST AUTOMOBILE”) affixed beneath the front windscreen on the right-hand side of the vehicle.

At the same time, rented automobiles and tourist automobiles must be posted (affixed) with the words “XE HỢP ĐỒNG” (“RENTED AUTOMOBILE”), “XE DU LỊCH” (“TOURIST AUTOMOBILE”) made of reflective materials on the front and back windshields of the vehicle.

Mandatory installation of cameras for passenger transport business automobiles of nine seats (including drivers) or more, trucks and tractors

Decree 10 requires passenger transport business automobiles of nine seats (including drivers) or more, trucks and tractors to be equipped with cameras to ensure the recording and archive of images inside the vehicles (including driver and vehicle doors) during the course of traffic before July 1, 2021. Duration of retention of these images is at least 24 hours or 72 hours depending on the operating distance of the vehicle. The image data must be provided to the competent authority upon request.

Requirements for taxis equipped with the ride-hailing software

Taxis using ride-hailing software capable of booking, cancelling and charging rides must be equipped with a device directly connecting with passengers for booking and cancelling rides; the ride is charged based on the distance showed on the digital map and the ride charging software must comply with regulations of laws on electronic transactions.

In particular, when finishing a ride, companies using ride-hailing software must send e-invoices to passenger via the software and send the invoice’s information to its supervisory tax authority pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Finance.

Beside above notable points, Decree 10 also provides for several other new regulations to meet with the needs for management of technology companies providing ride-hailing transport services which are expected to create a fair competitive environment for traditional taxi and technology taxi in Vietnam.

https://www.inhousecommunity.com/article/vietnam-new-regulations-automobile-transport-business/ 

Ha Hai
M: (84) 96 371 8558
E: [email protected]

Phan Minh
M: (84) 90 462 1350
E: [email protected]

Vietnam: New regulations on automobile transport business

April 6, 2020

     

After a long time in the drafting stage, the Government issued Decree No. 10/2020/ND-CP (Decree 10) on January 17, 2020, regulating automobile transport business and conditions for conducting automobile transport business, replacing the Decree No. 86/2014/ND-CP dated September 10, 2014 (“Decree 86”). Decree 10 shall officially take effect from April 1, 2020 and put an end to the pilot application of ride-hailing software for passenger transport business with e-contract which has been applied for more than four years. Some notable new features of Decree 10 are as follows:

Discrimination between automobile transport business providers and providers of application software supporting the transport connection

The most important new point of Decree 10 is the definition that “automobile transport business” means conducting one or more main transport activity (to directly coordinate the vehicles, drivers or to decide the transport fee) to transport passengers or goods on the road for profit. This definition helps discriminating automobile transport business providers from providers of application software supporting the transport connection by the factor of directly coordinating the vehicles, drivers or deciding the transport fee or not.

Furthermore, the Decree also defines “Coordinating vehicles, drivers refers to the process where an organisation or individual assigns a passenger or freight transport task to a driver via the application software supporting the transport connection, a transport order or a transport contract”. This shall help to determine whether technology companies providing ride-hailing transport services be considered as transport business providers or not. If yes, such companies shall be required to obtain Automobile Transport Business Licence and are subject to legal regulations binding automobile transport business companies, including the requirement to sign labour contracts, pay kinds of insurances, periodical health check and other benefits for their employees, including drivers and supporters on automobile.

Relaxing taxis from requirement of light boxes fixed on the car roofs

According to previous regulations, taxies were required to have light boxes with the word “TAXI” fixed on the roof. Now, Decree 10 allows passenger transport by taxi businesses the option of either fixing light boxes with the word “TAXI” on car roofs with a minimum size of 12×30 cm or posting (affixed) the phrase “XE TAXI” (“TAXI CAR”) made of reflective material on the front and rear windshields with the minimum size of the phrase “XE TAXI” (“TAXI CAR”) being 6 x 20 cm.

Rented automobiles, tourist automobiles must have signages and all required information affixed on the vehicle’s bodies

To prevent the problem of illegal transport vehicles, illegal temporary station, Decree 10 requires the rented automobiles to have the signage of “XE HỢP ĐỒNG (“RENTED AUTOMOBILE”), the tourist automobiles to have the signage of “XE DU LỊCH” (“TOURIST AUTOMOBILE”) affixed beneath the front windscreen on the right-hand side of the vehicle.

At the same time, rented automobiles and tourist automobiles must be posted (affixed) with the words “XE HỢP ĐỒNG” (“RENTED AUTOMOBILE”), “XE DU LỊCH” (“TOURIST AUTOMOBILE”) made of reflective materials on the front and back windshields of the vehicle.

Mandatory installation of cameras for passenger transport business automobiles of nine seats (including drivers) or more, trucks and tractors

Decree 10 requires passenger transport business automobiles of nine seats (including drivers) or more, trucks and tractors to be equipped with cameras to ensure the recording and archive of images inside the vehicles (including driver and vehicle doors) during the course of traffic before July 1, 2021. Duration of retention of these images is at least 24 hours or 72 hours depending on the operating distance of the vehicle. The image data must be provided to the competent authority upon request.

Requirements for taxis equipped with the ride-hailing software

Taxis using ride-hailing software capable of booking, cancelling and charging rides must be equipped with a device directly connecting with passengers for booking and cancelling rides; the ride is charged based on the distance showed on the digital map and the ride charging software must comply with regulations of laws on electronic transactions.

In particular, when finishing a ride, companies using ride-hailing software must send e-invoices to passenger via the software and send the invoice’s information to its supervisory tax authority pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Finance.

Beside above notable points, Decree 10 also provides for several other new regulations to meet with the needs for management of technology companies providing ride-hailing transport services which are expected to create a fair competitive environment for traditional taxi and technology taxi in Vietnam.

https://www.inhousecommunity.com/article/vietnam-new-regulations-automobile-transport-business/ 

Ha Hai
M: (84) 96 371 8558
E: [email protected]

Phan Minh
M: (84) 90 462 1350
E: [email protected]

Công ty Luật bizconsult hân hạnh được đóng góp bài viết đăng trên ấn phẩm Asian-mena Counsel In-house Handbook 2020

Công ty Luật Bizconsult hân hạnh được đóng góp bài viết “Vietnam market update” đăng trên ấn phẩm Asian-mena Counsel In-house Handbook 2020 thực hiện bởi Luật sư Nguyễn Anh Tuấn – Chủ tịch HĐTV và các Luật sư Thành viên Nguyễn Thu Huyền, Hà Thị Hải và Trần Công Quốc. Bài viết tiếp cận và đánh giá quy định pháp luật hiện hành của Việt Nam trong những lĩnh vực luật quan trọng và cốt lõi nhất mà các nhà đầu tư nước ngoài cần phải lưu ý khi tham gia vào thị trường Việt Nam như luật đầu tư, luật lao động, luật cạnh tranh và các quy định pháp luật liên quan đến giao dịch ngoại hối. Các tác giả hi vọng bài viết sẽ đem đến một cái nhìn toàn cảnh về môi trường pháp lý đầu tư, kinh doanh tại thị trường Việt Nam, một thị trường hứa hẹn tiềm năng phát triển mạnh mẽ nhưng cũng ẩn chứa nhiều thách thức, rủi ro.

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https://www.inhousecommunity.com/about-us/publications/asian-mena-counsel-in-house-handbook/

 

Bizconsult Law Firm is pleased to be the contributors of Asian-mena Counsel In-house Handbook Edition 2020

Bizconsult’s Chairman – Lawyer Nguyen Anh Tuan and bizconsult’s partners namely Lawyer Nguyen Thu Huyen, Lawyer Ha Thi Hai, Lawyer Tran Cong Quoc are pleased to be the contributors of Asian-mena Counsel In-house Handbook Edition 2020’s article “Vietnam market update”. The article offers a holistic approach to Vietnam’s current legal provisions in the most essential law areas that foreign investors need to be aware of when participating in Vietnam market such as investment law, labor law, competition law, provisions on foreign exchange controls.

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https://www.inhousecommunity.com/about-us/publications/asian-mena-counsel-in-house-handbook/

 

VIETNAM: SWEEPING REFORM TO SECURITIES MARKET

Lưu ý: “bài viết này chỉ phát hành tiếng Anh cho tạp chí nước ngoài Asian- Mena Counsel”

By Trang Nguyen  – Associate | Attorney at Law

In November 2019, the National Assembly passed the new Law on Securities No. 54/2019/QH14 (“New Law”), effective from 01 January 2021. The New Law will completely replace the current Law on Securities No. 70/2006/QH11 as amended by the Law No. 62/2010/QH12 (“Current Law”). The New Law is said to be a radical improvement to regulations on securities market in Vietnam, and is expected to overcome those shortcomings observed for the past 10 years.

One of the remarkable points of the New Law is the imposition of stricter qualifications to become a public company. In particular, in order to become a public company, the required minimum paid-up charter capital of a company will be VND30 billion, in which at least 10% voting shares must be held by at least 100 shareholders other than major shareholders. The Current Law requires the minimum paid-up charter capital of a public company to be VND10billion and held by 100 shareholders only. The current public company which fails to reach such conditions after the effective date of the New Law shall be reverted to be non-public.  Alternatively, a non-public company may also become a public company after its successful initial public offering (“IPO”).

With respect to public offering, the New Law set out separately conditions for IPO and follow-on public offer, rather than the same conditions for both under the Current Law. For IPO, the conditions on charter capital, profit and accumulated loss before IPO and minimum voting shares to be offered in an IPO are more stringent than those provided in the Current Law. In particular,

  • The company must have paid-up charter capital of at least VND30billion (VND10billion is required under Current Law);
  • There must be profit in two preceding years (one year is required under Current Law), and no accumulated losses till the year of IPO.
  • At least 15% of the company’s voting shares must be sold (or at least 10% with the company having charter capital of VND 1,000 billion or more) to at least 100 investors other than major shareholders; and
  • Major shareholders must commit to hold at least 20% of the company’s charter capital within at least one year from the completion date of the IPO.

The subscription price shall be deposited on an escrow account during IPO process and be released only upon the completion of IPO. Furthermore, the company’s shares are also demanded to be listed on the Stock Exchange after the IPO. For follow-on public offer, it is required below conditions:

  • The company must have paid-up charter capital of at least VND30billion;
  • There must be profit in preceding year, and no accumulated losses till the year of follow-on public offer;
  • The total par value of offered shares shall not exceed the total par value of outstanding shares, excepting the case that the unsold shares are guaranteed to be subscribed by an underwriter.

If a public offering is to raise capital for project, at least 70% of the total offered shares must be issued. The company must prepare a plan to make up the short fall of the capital intended to be raised from such public offering for the project’s implementation.

Regarding private placement, only strategic investors and professional securities investors are allowed to participate in private placement of a public company under the New Law. The lock-up period will be three years for strategic investors, or one year in case of professional securities investors, except for transfers among professional investors or so ruled by the court/arbitration or in case of inheritance. As compared with the Current Law, the scope of professional investors under the New Law covers further, among others, the company with charter capital over VNDN100 billion, the listed company, individual having securities practice certificate, individual having portfolio of listed shares valued at VND2billion, or individual having yearly taxable income of VND1billion or more.

The New Law also introduce certain new regulations on listing and registration for trading, securities depository, registration of securities, securities settlement and clearance, information disclosure, protection of client’s assets, securities investment funds, and sanctions.

https://www.inhousecommunity.com/article/vietnam-sweeping-reform-securities-market/

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Vietnam: Sweeping reform to securities market

By Trang Nguyen  – Associate | Attorney at Law

In November 2019, the National Assembly passed the new Law on Securities No. 54/2019/QH14 (“New Law”), effective from 01 January 2021. The New Law will completely replace the current Law on Securities No. 70/2006/QH11 as amended by the Law No. 62/2010/QH12 (“Current Law”). The New Law is said to be a radical improvement to regulations on securities market in Vietnam, and is expected to overcome those shortcomings observed for the past 10 years.

One of the remarkable points of the New Law is the imposition of stricter qualifications to become a public company. In particular, in order to become a public company, the required minimum paid-up charter capital of a company will be VND30 billion, in which at least 10% voting shares must be held by at least 100 shareholders other than major shareholders. The Current Law requires the minimum paid-up charter capital of a public company to be VND10billion and held by 100 shareholders only. The current public company which fails to reach such conditions after the effective date of the New Law shall be reverted to be non-public.  Alternatively, a non-public company may also become a public company after its successful initial public offering (“IPO”).

With respect to public offering, the New Law set out separately conditions for IPO and follow-on public offer, rather than the same conditions for both under the Current Law. For IPO, the conditions on charter capital, profit and accumulated loss before IPO and minimum voting shares to be offered in an IPO are more stringent than those provided in the Current Law. In particular,

  • The company must have paid-up charter capital of at least VND30billion (VND10billion is required under Current Law);
  • There must be profit in two preceding years (one year is required under Current Law), and no accumulated losses till the year of IPO.
  • At least 15% of the company’s voting shares must be sold (or at least 10% with the company having charter capital of VND 1,000 billion or more) to at least 100 investors other than major shareholders; and
  • Major shareholders must commit to hold at least 20% of the company’s charter capital within at least one year from the completion date of the IPO.

The subscription price shall be deposited on an escrow account during IPO process and be released only upon the completion of IPO. Furthermore, the company’s shares are also demanded to be listed on the Stock Exchange after the IPO. For follow-on public offer, it is required below conditions:

  • The company must have paid-up charter capital of at least VND30billion;
  • There must be profit in preceding year, and no accumulated losses till the year of follow-on public offer;
  • The total par value of offered shares shall not exceed the total par value of outstanding shares, excepting the case that the unsold shares are guaranteed to be subscribed by an underwriter.

If a public offering is to raise capital for project, at least 70% of the total offered shares must be issued. The company must prepare a plan to make up the short fall of the capital intended to be raised from such public offering for the project’s implementation.

Regarding private placement, only strategic investors and professional securities investors are allowed to participate in private placement of a public company under the New Law. The lock-up period will be three years for strategic investors, or one year in case of professional securities investors, except for transfers among professional investors or so ruled by the court/arbitration or in case of inheritance. As compared with the Current Law, the scope of professional investors under the New Law covers further, among others, the company with charter capital over VNDN100 billion, the listed company, individual having securities practice certificate, individual having portfolio of listed shares valued at VND2billion, or individual having yearly taxable income of VND1billion or more.

The New Law also introduce certain new regulations on listing and registration for trading, securities depository, registration of securities, securities settlement and clearance, information disclosure, protection of client’s assets, securities investment funds, and sanctions.

https://www.inhousecommunity.com/article/vietnam-sweeping-reform-securities-market/

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New Labour Code taking effect on January 1, 2021

Lưu ý: “bài viết này chỉ phát hành tiếng Anh cho tạp chí nước ngoài Asian- Mena Counsel”

By Nguyen Thu Huyen – Partner, Attorney at law

The participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) poses numerous requirements on the reform of laws, including labour laws.

Specifically, the members of the CPTPP and EVFTA are requested to adopt and maintain the rights as set out in the 1998 International Labour Organisation (ILO) Declaration, however, Vietnam is yet to ratify the remaining two core conventions of the ILO, which are Convention No. 87 regarding freedom of association and protection of the right to organise, and Convention No. 105 regarding abolition of forced labour. On that basis, Vietnam’s National Assembly ratified the new Labour Code on November 20, 2019 to replace the Labour Code 2012 and pave the way for the full implementation of the 1998 ILO Declaration. The new Labour Code will officially take effect from January 1, 2021 with the following notable provisions.

Employee representative organizations

The new Labour Code provides regulations on the establishment of employee’s organisations which are not under the system of Vietnam trade unions. Together with trade unions, these organisations are recognised as representing labour collectives at the grassroots level and have the equal rights and obligations as trade unions. In another way, the new Labour Code now recognises the right of employees to set up their own representative organisations to promote and improve the representative efficiency and protection of the rights and interests of the employees in labour relations, to comply with the core Conventions of the ILO as the new provision shows Vietnam’s effort tend to ILO’s Convention No. 87 which is not ratified by Vietnam’s National Assembly and to facilitate the process of international integration.

Nevertheless, this new regulation may place trade unions at a disadvantage due to a decrease in the number of members, especially in the non-state sector, and the role of trade unions may be limited.

Retirement age

The retirement age was a controversial topic in the process of preparing the draft of the new Labour Code 2019 for the National Assembly to ratify. People in favour of retaining the current retirement age argued that the increase of the retirement age might lead to growth in unemployment. Eventually, the retirement age has been amended to increase gradually.

In particular, age of retirement of employees working in normal working conditions is increased from 60 to 62 for males in 2028 and from 55 to 60 for females in 2035. Starting from 2021, the retirement age of employees working in normal working conditions is at 60 years and three months of age for males and 55 years and four months of age for females, then the retirement age shall increase by three months per year for males and by four months per year for females.

This roadmap for increasing the retirement age is considered reasonable as the current retirement age is still low compared to many countries in the world such as Singapore, Japan, Germany, etc. Moreover, the current retirement age was set more than 60 years ago when the average life expectancy of Vietnamese was 45 while it has now grown to 76.6 years.

Overtime cap

One of the remarkable amendments in the new Labour Code is the adjustment in the overtime cap. It has risen to 40 hours per month as compared to 30 hours per month as stated in the Labour Code 2012.

This amendment is for the purpose of meeting business needs and increasing the competitiveness of Vietnamese employees in the context of Vietnam joining CPTPP and EVFTA. In addition, the Labour Code newly stipulates cases for employees to work overtime for no more than 300 hours per year to ensure long-term benefits for employees.

Other noteworthy regulations

Other than the above-mentioned provisions, some noteworthy regulations of the new Labour Code are as follows: (i) an additional one full paid leave day adjacent to National Day raises the number of public holidays to 11; (ii) employees are allowed to unilaterally terminate labour contracts without reasons by notifying in advance within the timeline specified by law; (iii) employers are allowed to unilaterally terminate labour contracts of employees who are absent from work without permission for a total of five consecutive working days or more without requiring the employers to dismiss the employees for termination of labour contracts; (iv) and instead of conducting dialogue at workplaces every three months, the new Labour Code adjusts this regulation to once a year.

https://www.inhousecommunity.com/article/vietnam-new-labour-code-taking-effect-january-1-2021/

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New Labour Code taking effect on January 1, 2021

By Nguyen Thu Huyen – Partner, Attorney at law

The participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) poses numerous requirements on the reform of laws, including labour laws.

Specifically, the members of the CPTPP and EVFTA are requested to adopt and maintain the rights as set out in the 1998 International Labour Organisation (ILO) Declaration, however, Vietnam is yet to ratify the remaining two core conventions of the ILO, which are Convention No. 87 regarding freedom of association and protection of the right to organise, and Convention No. 105 regarding abolition of forced labour. On that basis, Vietnam’s National Assembly ratified the new Labour Code on November 20, 2019 to replace the Labour Code 2012 and pave the way for the full implementation of the 1998 ILO Declaration. The new Labour Code will officially take effect from January 1, 2021 with the following notable provisions.

Employee representative organizations

The new Labour Code provides regulations on the establishment of employee’s organisations which are not under the system of Vietnam trade unions. Together with trade unions, these organisations are recognised as representing labour collectives at the grassroots level and have the equal rights and obligations as trade unions. In another way, the new Labour Code now recognises the right of employees to set up their own representative organisations to promote and improve the representative efficiency and protection of the rights and interests of the employees in labour relations, to comply with the core Conventions of the ILO as the new provision shows Vietnam’s effort tend to ILO’s Convention No. 87 which is not ratified by Vietnam’s National Assembly and to facilitate the process of international integration.

Nevertheless, this new regulation may place trade unions at a disadvantage due to a decrease in the number of members, especially in the non-state sector, and the role of trade unions may be limited.

Retirement age

The retirement age was a controversial topic in the process of preparing the draft of the new Labour Code 2019 for the National Assembly to ratify. People in favour of retaining the current retirement age argued that the increase of the retirement age might lead to growth in unemployment. Eventually, the retirement age has been amended to increase gradually.

In particular, age of retirement of employees working in normal working conditions is increased from 60 to 62 for males in 2028 and from 55 to 60 for females in 2035. Starting from 2021, the retirement age of employees working in normal working conditions is at 60 years and three months of age for males and 55 years and four months of age for females, then the retirement age shall increase by three months per year for males and by four months per year for females.

This roadmap for increasing the retirement age is considered reasonable as the current retirement age is still low compared to many countries in the world such as Singapore, Japan, Germany, etc. Moreover, the current retirement age was set more than 60 years ago when the average life expectancy of Vietnamese was 45 while it has now grown to 76.6 years.

Overtime cap

One of the remarkable amendments in the new Labour Code is the adjustment in the overtime cap. It has risen to 40 hours per month as compared to 30 hours per month as stated in the Labour Code 2012.

This amendment is for the purpose of meeting business needs and increasing the competitiveness of Vietnamese employees in the context of Vietnam joining CPTPP and EVFTA. In addition, the Labour Code newly stipulates cases for employees to work overtime for no more than 300 hours per year to ensure long-term benefits for employees.

Other noteworthy regulations

Other than the above-mentioned provisions, some noteworthy regulations of the new Labour Code are as follows: (i) an additional one full paid leave day adjacent to National Day raises the number of public holidays to 11; (ii) employees are allowed to unilaterally terminate labour contracts without reasons by notifying in advance within the timeline specified by law; (iii) employers are allowed to unilaterally terminate labour contracts of employees who are absent from work without permission for a total of five consecutive working days or more without requiring the employers to dismiss the employees for termination of labour contracts; (iv) and instead of conducting dialogue at workplaces every three months, the new Labour Code adjusts this regulation to once a year.

https://www.inhousecommunity.com/article/vietnam-new-labour-code-taking-effect-january-1-2021/

Download PDF