Frequently Asked Questions

A dispute shall be settled by arbitration if an arbitration agreement exists between the parties. An arbitration agreement may be created either before or after a dispute arises.

The employer is entitled to temporarily assign an employee to perform a job which is not stated in the labor contract in the following cases:

(i) The occurrence of sudden difficulties due to a natural disaster, fire or epidemic, or the taking of measures to prevent or address a work accident, an occupational disease, or an electric or water supply incident; or

(ii) Due to business and production needs.

When temporarily assigning an employee to perform a job which is not stated in the labor contract, the following requirements must be noted:

• • The temporary assignment shall not exceed 60 accumulated workdays within 01 year. Should the assignment exceed 60 accumulated workdays within 01 year, such assignment must be agreed upon by the employee in writing.
  • The employer shall specify in the internal regulations the cases where, due to production and business needs, the employer may temporarily assign the employee to perform a job which is not stated in the labor contract.
  • The employee must be informed at least 03 working days in advance, clearly stating the term of the temporary assignment, and assigning a job suitable to the health and gender of the employee.
  • Salaries will be paid based on the new job assignment. If the salary for the new job is lower than the old one, the employee is entitled to receive the previous salary for 30 working days. Thereafter, the salary for the new assignment must be at least 85% of the old salary but not lower than the minimum salary.
  • Employees who refuse to temporarily perform a job other than that stated in the labor contract for over 60 accumulated days within 1 year that results in work suspension of the employee, the employee shall be entitled to a suspension salary.

The following cases are considered structural and technological changes:

(i) Changing the organizational structure or the reorganization of labor;

(ii)  The changing of the process, technology, machinery and equipment for production and the business associated with the production and business lines of the employer;

(iii) Changing the product or product structure.

The following cases are considered economic reasons:

(i) Economic crisis or recession;

(ii) Implementing State’s policies when restructuring the economy or implementing international commitments.

If the change in structure or technology affects the employment of many employees, the employer shall formulate and implement a labor utilization plan in accordance with Article 44 of the 2019 Labor Code. If new jobs are being created, priority shall be given to retraining existing employees for continued employment.

Should there be more than one employee facing the risk of unemployment or being dismissed for economic reasons, the employer shall formulate and implement a labor utilization plan in accordance with Article 44 of 2019 the Labor Code.

If the employer cannot find a solution regarding the lost jobs and has to lay off employees, the employer shall pay job-loss allowances to the employees in accordance with Article 47 of the 2019 Labor Code.

The dismissal of employees shall be implemented only after discussion with the grassroots-level employees’ representative organization of which the employees are members, and the employer must notify the provincial-level People’s Committee and the employees 30 days in advance.

The following judgements and decisions are enforceable:

(i) Judgements and decisions which have taken legal effect including:

• • Judgements and decisions or parts of judgements and decisions of first-instance Courts which have not been appealed or protested pursuant to appellate procedures;
  • Judgements and decisions of appellate Courts;
  • Cassation or reopening of trial decisions by Courts;
  • Civil judgements and decisions of foreign courts, foreign arbitral awards which have been recognized and are permitted to be enforced in Vietnam by Vietnamese courts;
  • Decisions on settlement of competition cases by the Chairperson of the National Competition Committee or the anti-competition settlement Council; decisions on complaints that challenge a competition case-handling decision by the Chairperson of the National Competition Committee or the Council for settlement of complaints concerning anti-competition, that the involved parties were unwilling to enforce or did not file a lawsuit with a court within 15 days from the date on which the decision took effect;
  • Awards and decisions of commercial arbitrations; and
  • Bankruptcy settlement decisions of courts.

(ii) The following judgements and decisions shall be enforced immediately even though they may be subsequently appealed or protested:

• • Judgements and decisions concerning alimony, salary, wages, severance allowance, job-loss allowance, working capacity loss allowance or compensation for loss of life, health or mental harm, and reinstatement of a dismissed employee;
  • Decisions on the application of interim emergency measures.

Yes, the judgement debtor or their authorized representative may request judgement enforcement.

The time limit to transfer judgements and decisions to the civil judgement enforcement authority is as follows:

(i) 30 days from the date the judgement or decision took effect for the following judgements or decisions:

• • Judgements and decisions or parts of judgements and decisions of first-instance Court which have not been appealed or protested pursuant to appellate procedures;
  • Judgements and decisions of appellate Courts;
  • Cassation or reopening of trial decisions by Courts;
  • Civil judgements and decisions of foreign Courts, as well as foreign arbitral awards which have been recognized and are permitted to be enforced in Vietnam by Vietnamese courts;
  • Decisions of the Courts regarding bankruptcy settlement.

(ii) 15 days from the date the judgement or decision took effect for judgements and decisions concerning alimony, salary, wages, severance allowance, job-loss allowance, working capacity loss allowance or compensation for loss of life, health or mental harm, and reinstatement of a dismissed employee.

(iii) Decisions on the application of interim emergency measures must be transferred to the competent civil judgement enforcement agency immediately after issuance.

The statute of limitations for requesting a judgement enforcement is 05 years from the date on which the judgement or decision took effect.

If a time limit for fulfilling an obligation is set in the judgement or decision, the 5-year statute of limitations shall commence from the date the obligation is due.

For judgements and decisions subject to periodical enforcement, the 5-year statute of limitations shall apply to each period and commence from the date the obligation is due.

A judgement enforcement request must contain the following:

• • Full name and address of the requester;
  • Name of the civil judgement enforcement authority that has been requested to enforce the judgement;
  • Full names and addresses of the judgement creditor(s) and judgement debtor(s);
  • Contents of the judgement requested to be enforced;
  • Information on the assets and conditions of judgement execution related to the judgement debtor, if any;
  • Date of request;
  • Signature or fingerprint of the requester. Should the requester be a legal entity, its written request must bear the signature of its legal representative and its seal, if any.

The civil judgement enforcement agency shall reject a judgement enforcement request in the following circumstances:

• • The requesting party has no standing to request judgement enforcement or the contents of the written request are irrelevant to the contents of the judgement or decision. Also, a request will be rejected if a judgement or decision does not implicate any rights or obligations of the involved parties pursuant to the amended Law on Enforcement of Civil Judgements;
  • The civil judgement enforcement agency requested to enforce the judgement is does not have competence to do so;
  • The statute of limitations for requesting judgement enforcement has expired.