Browse through brief employment and labor law updates from around the globe. Contact a Littler attorney for more information or view our global locations.

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Increase of Statutory Pay Rate

New Order or Decree

Authors: Bernadette Fahy, Partner, and Tran Trong Binh, Of Counsel – APFL & Partners Legal Vietnam LLC

On May 14, 2023, the Vietnamese Government issued Decree No. 24/2023/ND-CP, which provides for an increase in the statutory pay rate from VND 1.49 million (about USD 63.30) per month to VND 1.8 million (about USD 76.50) per month effective on July 1, 2023.

The statutory pay rate is a basic metric used to calculate the amount for a number of employment benefits under Vietnamese law, including: (1) salaries, allowances, and other benefits for officials working at state authorities, public employees working in state-owned non-business organizations (such as state hospitals, universities etc.), employees in state-funded associations, officers and employees of the Vietnamese army and police service, and employees working at local authorities; (2) allowances provided by law such as one-time allowance for giving birth, allowance for heath recovery after sickness treatment after giving birth, allowances for working capacity reduction, and allowance for death due to occupational accidents, etc.; and (3) contribution amounts and benefits payable under regimes such as compulsory social insurance contribution, compulsory health insurance contribution, compulsory unemployment insurance contribution, and other relevant benefits.

New Regulations on Personal Data Protection

New Order or Decree

Authors: Bernadette Fahy, Partner, and Tran Trong Binh, Of Counsel – APFL & Partners Legal Vietnam LLC

Under Decree No. 13/2023/ND-CP, issued on April 17, 2023, personal data to be protected includes (i) basic personal data, consisting of any information that relates to the identification of the individual concerned and (ii) sensitive personal data, which is personal data associated with an individual’s privacy that, when infringed, directly affects the legitimate rights and interests of such individual. The Decree will take effect on July 1, 2023. However, small and medium sized enterprises that do not directly engage in personal data processing business will have a two-year grace period, and therefore, will not have to comply with the provisions of the new Decree until July 1, 2025.

Under this decree, processors or controllers of personal data are subject to various requirements, including obtaining valid consent from the data owner, notifying the data owner about data processing, providing the data owner with the personal data upon request, following the process requirements applicable to special types of personal data, and complying with cross-border data transfer procedures. Data owners are granted a number of rights to ensure the protection of their personal data, including the right to be informed, the right to consent and withdraw consent, the right to access personal data, the right to remove data and limit the processing of data, the right to request data to be provided, the right to object, the right to complain, the right to make a claim and initiate legal proceedings, the right to claim for damages, and the right to self-defense.

This new regulation may significantly impact the employers’ processing of any employee’s personal data that is provided during their employment, including data collection, data storage, data disclosure and especially data transfer out of Vietnam which is quite common for foreign-invested enterprises.

New Templates for Service Agreements and Employment Contracts in Public Sector

New Regulation or Official Guidance

Authors: Bernadette Fahy, Partner, and Tran Trong Binh, Of Counsel – APFL & Partners Legal Vietnam LLC

On May 3, 2023, the Vietnamese Ministry of Internal Affairs issued Circular No. 05/2023/TT-BNV providing a template service agreement and a template employment contract for experts and support staff at state administrative agencies and state-owned non-business organizations. This Circular will take effect on June 20, 2023.

New Regime for Voluntary Social Insurance for Occupational Accidents in Respect of Non-Employment Workers

Proposed Bill or Initiative

Authors: Bernadette Fahy, Partner, and Tran Trong Binh, Of Counsel – APFL & Partners Legal Vietnam LLC

The Vietnamese Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs is canvassing public opinion on a new draft decree introducing a voluntary social insurance regime covering occupational accidents for Vietnamese employees who are working without a labor contract. The workers who contribute to the voluntary social insurance scheme (Participating Employees) will be eligible to claim insurance benefits for occupational accidents subject to certain conditions. For instance, in order to qualify for benefits, (i) the employee’s working capacity must decrease by at least 5% as a result of the occupational accident and (ii) the occupational accident cannot occur as a result of the employee’s own deliberate or unlawful action, including the use of illegal drugs.

The Draft Decree proposes the following three insurance benefits which can be claimed by eligible Participating Employees: (1) professional assessment of the employee’s decreased work capacity following an occupational accident, (2) a one-off allowance or a monthly allowance. and (3) an allowance to buy adapted equipment for use at home or for movement, and/or orthopedic devices depending on the type of injury or illness suffered by the employee in each case, and as determined by the relevant hospital or medical center.