In labor relations, the rights and obligations of employers and employees always coexist and support one another. Among these, labor obligations play a central role in ensuring labor order and discipline and in protecting the legitimate interests of the parties.

I. The role of regulating labor obligations

The regulation of labor obligations not only helps clearly define the responsibilities of each party in the labor relationship, but also contributes to establishing and maintaining stable and effective labor relations.

Such regulations help assign responsibilities and specify the tasks each party must perform during the employment, protect the lawful rights and interests of both employees and employers, resolve disputes by providing legal grounds for settling conflicts and disagreements that may arise, and build labor discipline, thereby fostering a disciplined and orderly working environment and enhancing labor productivity.

II. Legal provisions on labor obligations

1. Labor obligations of the employer

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 6 of the Labor Code 2019, employers have the following obligations:

  • To execute labor contracts, collective labor agreements, and other lawful agreements; and to respect the honor and dignity of employees;
  • To establish mechanisms for and conduct dialogue and exchanges with employees and employees’ representative organizations; and to implement grassroots democracy regulations at the workplace;
  • To provide training, retraining, and professional development to improve qualifications and vocational skills in order to maintain or facilitate occupational transition and employment for employees;
  • To comply with the laws on labor, employment, vocational education, social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, and occupational safety and health; and to develop and implement measures to prevent and combat sexual harassment in the workplace;
  • To participate in the development of national occupational skill standards and in the assessment and recognition of employees’ occupational skills.

2. Labor obligations of the employee

Clause 2, Article 5 of the Labor Code 2019 provides that employees have the following obligations:

  • To execute labor contracts, collective labor agreements, and other lawful agreements;
  • To comply with labor discipline and internal labor regulations; and with the management, administration, and supervision of the employer;
  • To comply with the laws on labor, employment, vocational education, social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, and occupational safety and health.

3. Obligations of the employer regarding prohibited acts toward employees

The following acts prescribed in Article 8 of the Labor Code 2019 are strictly prohibited:

  • Discrimination in labor;
  • Abuse of employees or forced labor;
  • Sexual harassment in the workplace;
  • Taking advantage of vocational training or apprenticeship in order to seek illicit gains, exploit labor, or entice, induce, or force trainees or apprentices to engage in illegal activities;
  • Employing workers who have not been trained or do not possess national occupational skill certificates for occupations or jobs that require trained labor or such certificates;
  • Enticing, inducing, promising, making false advertisements, or using other deceptive practices to defraud employees or recruit employees for the purpose of human trafficking, exploitation, forced labor, or taking advantage of employment services or activities of sending employees to work overseas under contracts to commit illegal acts;
  • Illegal employing underage workers.

Accordingly, employers are prohibited from committing the above acts against employees.

III. Certain questions regarding labor obligations

1. Do labor obligations of employees include overtime work?

Under current regulations, the basic labor obligation of an employee is to perform the work as agreed in the labor contract.

Overtime work is not a default obligation and must be based on an agreement between the employee and the employer. Employees have the right to refuse overtime work, except for special cases as stipulated in Article 108 of the Labor Code 2019, including:

  • Compliance with mobilization or requisition orders to serve national defense and security duties in accordance with law;
  • Work for protecting human life and the property of agencies, organizations, or individuals in the prevention or remediation of consequences of natural disasters, fires, dangerous epidemics, and catastrophes, except where there is a risk of affecting the life or health of the employee in accordance with the law on occupational safety and health.

2. In which cases does the employer have the right to unilaterally terminate a labor contract?

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 36 of the Labor Code 2019, an employer has the right to unilaterally terminate a labor contract in the following cases:

  • The employee regularly fails to complete work according to the labor contract, as determined based on the criteria for assessing the level of job performance set out in the employer’s regulations;
  • The employee suffers from illness or accident and has received medical treatment for 12 consecutive months in the case of an indefinite-term labor contract, or for 06 consecutive months in the case of a definite-term labor contract with a term of 12 to 36 months, or for more than half of the contract term in the case of a definite-term labor contract of less than 12 months, while the working capacity has not yet recovered;
  • Due to natural disasters, fires, dangerous epidemics, enemy sabotage, or relocation or downsizing of production or business at the request of competent state authorities, where the employer has exhausted all remedial measures but is still compelled to reduce jobs;
  • The employee fails to be present at the workplace after the time limit specified in Article 31 of this Code;
  • The employee reaches the statutory retirement age as prescribed in Article 169 of this Code, unless otherwise agreed;
  • The employee abandons work without a legitimate reason for five (05) consecutive working days or more;
  • The employee provides untruthful information as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 16 of this Code upon entering into the labor contract, which affects the recruitment of the employee.

When unilaterally terminating a labor contract under Points a, b, c, d, and g of Clause 1 of this Article, the employer must give prior notice to the employee.

3. Is an employee obligated to provide personal information to the employer?

Clause 2, Article 16 of the Labor Code 2019 stipulates: An employee must provide truthful information to the employer regarding full name, date of birth, gender, place of residence, educational qualifications, vocational skill qualifications, health status certification, and other matters directly related to the conclusion of the labor contract as requested by the employer.

Accordingly, when entering into the labor contract, employees are required to truthfully provide the above personal information to the employer.

4. Is an employee obligated to participate in professional development or advanced training courses?

Whether an employee is obligated to participate in professional development or advanced training courses depends on the agreement in the labor contract or the employer’s regulations.

If the labor contract or the company’s internal regulations stipulate that employees must participate in training courses organized by the company to improve qualifications and skills, the employee is required to attend such training.

5. How is the employer’s obligation to provide a safe and healthy working environment regulated?

Employers have an important obligation to provide a safe and healthy working environment and to ensure occupational safety and health at the workplace according to Clause 1, Article 134 of the Labor Code 2019: Employers are responsible for fully implementing measures to ensure occupational safety and health at the workplace.

This is a mandatory obligation to ensure that employees work in a safe environment, thereby protecting their health and lives during the course of employment.

IV. Legal advisory services on labor obligations

The above is NPLaw’s article on current labor obligations. With a team of experienced lawyers and legal specialists, NPLaw provides reputable and professional legal services, ensuring the best protection of the lawful rights and interests of our valued clients. Should you require legal assistance, please contact NPLaw for consultation and support.