NATIONAL ASSEMBLY --------	SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM Independence - Freedom - Happiness ----------------
Law No. 10/2012/QH13

LABOR CODE

Pursuant to the Constitution 1992 of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam amended and supplemented under the Resolution No. 51/2001/QH10;

The National Assembly promulgates the Labor Code.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

The Labor Code specifies the labor standards; the rights, obligations and responsibilities of the employees, the employers, the labor representative organizations, the employer representative organizations in the labor relation and other relations directly related to the labor relation, the State management of labor.

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. The Vietnamese employees, apprentices, interns and other employees specified in this Code.

2. The employers.

3. Foreign employees working in Vietnam.

4. Other individuals, agencies and organizations directly related to the labor relation.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Code, the following terms are construed as follows:

1. Employees are people from 15 years old and above, capable of working, working under labor contracts, receiving salaries and subject to the management of the employers.

2. The employers are enterprises, agencies, organizations, cooperatives, households and individuals hiring, employing employees under labor contracts. The individuals must be sufficiently capable of civil acts.

3. The labor collectives are organized collectives of the employees working for one employer or in one division under the organizational structure of the employer.

4. The internal labor representative organizations are the executive board of the internal Union or the executive board of the direct superior Union if the internal Union has not been established

5. The employer representative organizations are organizations legally established to represent and protect the lawful rights and interests of the employers in the labor relation.

6. Labor relation is the social relation occurring while hiring or employing, paying salaries between the employee and the employer.

7. Labor dispute is the dispute over the rights, obligations and interests arising in the labor relation.

The labor disputes include the personal labor dispute between the employee and the employer, and the collective labor dispute between the labor collective and the employer.

8. Collective labor dispute over rights is the dispute between the labor collective and the employer arising out of the inconsistent explanation and implementation of the law provisions on labor, the collective labor agreement, the labor regulations and other lawful agreements and regulations.

9. The collective labor dispute over interests is the labor dispute arising when the labor collective requests the establishment of new working conditions compared to the law provisions on labor, the collective labor agreement, labor regulations and other lawful agreements and regulations during the negotiation between the labor collective and the employers.

10. Coercive labor is the use of force, the threat to use force or other tricks to coerce other people to work involuntarily.

Article 4. The State policies on labor

1. Ensuring the legitimate rights and interests of the employees; encouraging agreements that ensure more favorable conditions for the employees than that in the law provisions on labor; encouraging employees to purchase stocks and contribute capital to the production and business development.

2. Ensuring the lawful rights and interests of the employers, managing labor in a legal, democratic, equitable, civilized manner, and enhance the social responsibilities.

3. Facilitating the employment creation, self-employment, vocational training and learning towards employment opportunities, facilitating the production and business that attract a lot of labor.

4. Planning the development and distribution of labor force; providing vocational training and skill improvement courses for employees, offering incentives to employees with great professional expertise that satisfy the modernization and industrialization requirements of the country.

5. Planning the labor market development, diversifying the means of connection between the labor supply and demand.

6. Guiding the communication and collective negotiation between employees and employers, building stable, progressive and harmonious labor relations.

7. Ensuring the gender equality; imposing labor regulations and social policies in order to protect female employees, disabled employees, elderly employees and underage employees.

Article 5. Rights and duties of employees

1. The employees are entitled to:

a) Work, independently select works, vocations, get vocational training and improvement without discrimination;

b) Receive salaries consistently with the vocational skills and grade on the basis of the agreement with the employer; receive work protection, work in safe and hygienic conditions; take official leave, paid annual leave and enjoy collective benefits;