Tiếng Việt
中文 (中国)
Working hours are not only an important aspect of daily life but also a determinant of the quality of life and the socio-economic development of individuals and society as a whole. Built on the principles of fairness and sustainable development, the Vietnamese Labor Law of 2019 has set forth several significant points regarding working hours, aiming to protect the rights of workers and create favorable conditions for the sustainable development of businesses and the national economy.
Normal Working Hours
Normal working hours shall not exceed 8 hours per day and 48 hours per week.
Employers have the right to determine daily or weekly working hours but must inform employees; in the case of weekly hours, normal working hours shall not exceed 10 hours per day and 48 hours per week. The state encourages employers to implement a 40-hour workweek for employees.
Employers are responsible for ensuring that the working time limit for exposure to hazardous or harmful factors complies with national technical standards and relevant laws.
Night work hours are counted from 22:00 to 06:00 the following day.
Overtime Work
Overtime work refers to working hours outside of normal working hours as prescribed by law, collective labor agreements, or labor regulations.
Employers are allowed to require employees to work overtime if the following requirements are fully met:
a) Consent of the employee is obtained;
b) Ensure that the overtime hours for employees do not exceed 50% of the normal working hours in one day; in the case of applying weekly working hour regulations, the total of normal working hours and overtime hours shall not exceed 12 hours per day or 40 hours per month;
c) Ensure that the total overtime hours for employees do not exceed 200 hours per year, except in certain cases.
Special Cases of Overtime Work
Employers have the right to require employees to work overtime on any day without restrictions on the number of overtime hours as prescribed in Article 107 of the Labor Code, and employees cannot refuse in the following cases:
- Implementing mobilization orders to ensure national defense and security tasks as prescribed by law;
- Performing tasks to protect human lives, property of agencies, organizations, individuals in the prevention and mitigation of consequences of natural disasters, fires, dangerous epidemics, and disasters, except in cases where there is a risk to the life and health of employees as prescribed by law on labor safety and hygiene.
Rest Hours
Rest During Working Hours
Employees working according to the working hours prescribed in Article 105 of the Labor Code from 6:00 onwards in a day are entitled to a continuous rest period of at least 30 minutes, and those working at night are entitled to a continuous rest period of at least 45 minutes.
In the case of employees working continuously in shifts from 6:00 onwards, the rest time between shifts is counted as working hours.
In addition to the prescribed rest time, the employer arranges rest breaks for employees and records them in the labor regulations.
Employees working in shifts are entitled to at least 12 hours of rest before switching to another shift.
Weekly Rest
Every week, employees are entitled to at least 24 consecutive hours off. In special cases where it is not possible to have weekly rest due to work cycles, the employer is responsible for ensuring that employees have an average of at least 4 days off per month.
Employers have the right to decide to schedule the weekly rest day on Sundays or another designated day of the week but must include this in the labor regulations.
If the weekly rest day coincides with a public holiday or festival as prescribed in Article 112(1) of the Labor Code, employees are entitled to a substitute rest day on the next working day.
Public Holidays
Employees are entitled to days off and full pay on the following public holidays:
a) New Year’s Day: 1 day (January 1st);
b) Lunar New Year: 5 days;
c) Reunification Day: 1 day (April 30th);
d) International Workers’ Day: 1 day (May 1st);
e) National Day: 2 days (September 2nd and 1 adjacent day); f) Hung Kings Commemoration Day: 1 day (10th day of the third lunar month).
Annually, based on actual conditions, the Prime Minister decides specific dates for the Lunar New Year holiday and National Day.
Foreign workers in Vietnam are entitled to an additional day off for their traditional ethnic holiday and their country’s National Day, in addition to the holidays mentioned above.
Annual Leave
Employees who have worked for 12 months for an employer are entitled to annual leave with full pay according to their labor contracts as follows:
a) 12 working days for employees working under normal conditions;
b) 14 working days for underage employees, disabled employees, workers engaged in hazardous, strenuous, or dangerous jobs;
c) 16 working days for employees engaged in special, strenuous, hazardous, or dangerous jobs.
Employees who have worked for less than 12 months for an employer are entitled to annual leave in proportion to the number of months worked.
In cases of resignation or termination of employment before taking annual leave or before utilizing all annual leave days, the employer must compensate the employee for the remaining annual leave days.
Employers are responsible for determining the annual leave schedule after consulting with employees and must inform employees in advance. Employees may negotiate with employers to split annual leave into multiple periods or take it all at once, but no more than once every 3 years.
When taking annual leave before the scheduled payday, employees are entitled to receive an advance on their salary as stipulated in Article 101(3) of the Labor Code.
During annual leave, if an employee travels by road, rail, or waterway for more than 2 days, only the travel time beyond the first 2 days is counted as annual leave and is considered as one annual leave period.
For every 5 years of work for an employer, employees are entitled to an additional day of annual leave as stipulated in Article 113(1) of the Labor Code.
Leave without Pay
Employees are entitled to leave without pay under the following circumstances:
a) Marriage: 3 days off;
b) Birth or adoption of a child by the employee’s spouse: 1 day off;
c) Death of the employee’s father, mother, adoptive father, adoptive mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, spouse, child: 3 days off.
Employees are entitled to leave without pay for 1 day and must notify the employer in the event of the death of their grandfather, grandmother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, siblings, half-siblings, or in-laws.
In addition to the above provisions, employees may negotiate with the employer for leave without pay.
Working Hours, Rest Hours for Employees in Specialized Jobs
For specialized jobs in transportation (road, rail, water, air), offshore oil exploration, maritime work, arts, radiation and nuclear technology, high-frequency wave technology, computing, advanced scientific and technological research, industrial design, diving, underground work, seasonal production, contract manufacturing, 24/7 on-call work, and other specialized jobs regulated by the government, specific working hours and rest hours are determined by the relevant authorities in consultation with the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, in accordance with Article 109 of the Labor Code.
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