Important internal regulations regarding labor
2023/08/21
- Phan Manh Hung
Introduction
In today’s competitive and complex business environment, building and maintaining a strong internal control system is extremely important for the sustainable development of a company. Among these, the labor management system always plays a central role in the process of complying with laws and building a reliable working environment. This article will explain internal management regulations regarding labor, which are important under Vietnamese law.
1. Labor regulations
Work rules are one of the most important internal control regulations required for any company. Work regulations are issued by enterprises to establish and maintain labor order within the enterprise, and stipulate the obligations of workers who have signed a labor contract with the enterprise. Specifically, companies must pay attention to the following points when creating work rules.
（i）Content
Must not violate labor laws and related laws and regulations, including working hours, rest, labor discipline, property damage liability, etc.
It must contain the main contents stipulated in Article 118.
（ii）Issue and procedures
All companies are required to issue work regulations.
・Companies with 10 or more workers: Employment regulations must be in writing and must be registered with the labor management agency (Labor Bureau or Industrial Park Management Committee) where the head office is located within 10 days from the date of issue.
・Companies with fewer than 10 workers: Work regulations do not need to be in writing, but content regarding labor discipline and material liability must be agreed upon in the labor contract(*1). Registration with a labor management agency is not required.
In addition, before issuing, amending, or supplementing work rules, if the workplace has a worker representative organization, the company must refer to the opinions of the worker representative organization and provide all workers with the work rules. It must be announced and the main contents must be posted in the necessary place at the business office. Issuing work rules is considered both a legal obligation for companies and a legal right. Therefore, companies can strictly maintain labor order by observing and utilizing regulations regarding work rules.
2. Collective labor agreement
Collective labor agreements are agreements reached through collective bargaining between companies and worker organizations. The main content is the rights of workers (usually given preferential treatment over the law). Therefore, companies need to pay attention to the following points.
（i）Content
It is not possible to go against the provisions of laws and regulations, and it is encouraged to compare them favorably with the provisions of laws and regulations(*2).
（ii）Issue
A collective bargaining agreement is a written document (not issued independently by the company) and all workers in the company must be consulted on the draft collective bargaining agreement negotiated by each party before it can be concluded. No.
Enterprise collective labor agreements can only be concluded if 50% or more of the workers in the enterprise vote in favor(*3).
Labor law does not require all companies to conclude collective labor agreements. However, if a collective labor agreement is concluded, one copy of the agreement shall be submitted to the labor management agency (labor bureau or industrial park management committee) where the head office is located from the date of conclusion.
Must be sent within 10 days(*4). In addition, after a collective labor agreement is concluded, employers are required to announce it to workers. Through collective labor agreements, enterprises can promote the establishment of better labor-management relations and promote stable and sustainable business management.
3. Wage table/scale
A “wage table/scale” is a document issued by a company that stipulates the wage level, allowance level (allowance coefficient), bonus level (bonus coefficient), etc. for each position. This document serves as the basis for hiring workers, negotiating wages, and considering periodic raises and bonuses. Companies need to pay attention to the following points when creating wage tables and wage scales.
（i）Content
Companies are free to create wage tables and wage scales as long as the minimum wage in the wage scale is not lower than the regional minimum wage stipulated by the government.
（ii）Issue
All companies are obligated to prepare and publish wage tables/pay scales.
（iii）Procedure
Companies do not need to register or notify wage tables or wage scales. However, similar to work rules, when creating wage tables and wage scales, the opinion of the worker representative organization must be referred to in workplaces where there is a worker representative organization in the workplace, and before application. must be made public to all workers. Wage tables/pay scales are important internal regulations in the labor recruitment process and labor cost management. Developing wage tables and wage scales can help companies improve their competitiveness in the labor recruitment process and help companies understand their overall labor costs.
4. Democratic rule
“Democratic rules” stipulate the exercise of “sovereignty” by workers in companies. Based on the constitution and laws, this includes the right of workers to access information and express their opinions, the right to participate in discussions and decision-making and to discuss and express opinions on various issues within the company, and the right to make, consider, and discuss other issues within the company. This includes the right to monitor. Regarding democratic rules, the following points need to be kept in mind.
（i）Content
Democratic rules include the main content of workplace dialogue(*5) and the content that allows workers to participate in opinions, decisions, and supervision.
（ii）Issue and procedures
Companies with 10 or more employees must issue democratic regulations(*6) and make them available to workers. When drafting, amending or supplementing democratic regulations, enterprises shall ensure that the content and form comply with the provisions of the law and take into account the opinions of the worker representative organizations (if any) and the representative groups of workers (if any) at the establishment. Must be used as a reference.
Democratic regulations are internal rules that create conditions for workers to express their opinions, requests, and suggestions at companies, and they contribute to preventing labor disputes and promote harmonious and stable labor disputes. This will help build sustainable and progressive labor-management relations.
Conclusion
This article has explained important internal regulations regarding labor. Companies must create work rules based on laws and regulations. Additionally, in order to build good labor-management relations, it is necessary to consider issuing other labor regulations that are not required by law. By establishing these internal regulations, it is expected that sustainable and harmonious labor-management relations will be established, contributing to the sustainable development of companies in a highly competitive business environment.
*This article was translated by Yarakuzen.
References:
1 Article 118(1) of the Labor Law 2019 and Article 69 of Decree 145/2020/ND-CP
2 Article 75 of the Labor Law 2019
3 Article 75(2) and Article 76 of the Labor Law 2019
4 Article 77 of the Labor Law 2019
5 Decree 145/2020/ND-CP Article 37, Paragraph 2
6 Decree 145/2020/ND-CP Article 48(1) and Article 114(4)
