How to Resolve Disputes in Labour in Vietnam?

Both employees and employers can consult labour dispute lawyers in Vietnam to understand the labour law and protect their rights.

A labour dispute is one of the most common disputes in society, in particular it means a dispute over rights, obligations and interests among the parties during the establishment, execution or termination of labor relation; a dispute between the representative organizations of employees; a dispute over a relationship that is directly relevant to the labor relation.

In fact, labour disputes happen often, but there are many situations where employees often have little understanding of their rights, leading to disadvantages if the employer does not know or does not follow the law.

Therefore, identifying employment disputes is very important. For employees, learning about labor law is to know their rights. Employers need to understand labor laws to ensure compliance. 

Labour disputes incurred during pandemic, questions needing answers?

For example, during the recent pandemic, many businesses faced difficulties in doing business in Vietnam and hence many common labour disputes arisen. For workers, a dispute could arise from not being paid on time. Other concerns are whether there is any violations that lead to the termination of the labor contract? Has the employer carried out restructuring procedures and notified state agencies according to the correct procedure before terminating the labor contract with the employee? Does the employer have an agreement with the employee before suspending the labor contract during the pandemic? When the business is not efficient, is the employer required to pay the 13th month salary to the employee?

What types of labour dispute you might be encountering?

At present, labour disputes are classified into different types based on the object who participated in the dispute: Labour disputes between the employee and the employer; labour between the employee and the organization that sends the employee to work overseas under a contract; labour dispute between the outsourced worker and the enterprise. Right-based or interest-based collective labour disputes between one or several representative organizations of employees and the employer or one or several representative organizations of employees.

How to settle labour dispute at court?

The labor dispute settlement process must follow the following principles:

Respect the parties’ autonomy through negotiation throughout the process of labor dispute settlement;

Prioritize labour dispute settlement through mediation and arbitration on the basis of respect for the rights and interests of the two disputing parties, and respect for the public interest of the society and conformity with the law;

The labour dispute shall be settled publicly, transparently, objectively, promptly, and lawfully;

Ensure the participation of the representatives of each party in the labour dispute settlement process;

Labour dispute settlement shall be initiated by a competent authority or person after it is requested by a disputing party or by another competent authority or person and is agreed by the disputing parties.

When a labour dispute arises, one party or parties may request a Labor Mediator; The Labor Arbitration Council or the People’s Court to settle the disputes.

Matter on time limit is an important matter that the parties should pay attention. The time limit to request a labor mediator to settle an individual labor dispute is 06 months from the date on which a party discovers the act of infringement of their lawful rights and interests.

For the form of dispute settlement through the Labor Arbitration Council, the time limit is 09 months from the date on which a party discovers the act of infringement of their lawful rights and interests. In case of requesting the Court to settle the labour dispute, the time limit is 01 year from the day on which a party discovers the act of infringement of their lawful rights and interests.

What labour dispute lawyers in Vietnam could help?

Many of the labour disputes could be resolved effectively at court hence engaging a labour dispute lawyers in Vietnam to file a lawsuit will help parties involved.

Please note, upon the expiration of the above-mentioned time limitation, the disputing parties will not have the right to request the competent authorities to resolve the dispute. In case the requester is able to prove that the aforementioned time limits cannot be complied with due to a force majeure event or unfortunate event, the duration of such event shall not be included in the time limit for requesting settlement of individual labour dispute.

ANT Lawyers, a law firm in Vietnam, always follow up the labour matters to update clients on regular basis.