In Vietnam, cases, where the employer hires a minor child to work in their establishment, are not rare. Not just in Vietnam but in most countries in the world, the situation of hiring and using minor employees has been ongoing for quite some time. Instead of completely blocking this phenomenon, affecting the benefits of every party, the Vietnamese Government has issued regulations on the recruitment and employment of minor employees in Vietnam to protect their interests.
According to Vietnam's standards, a minor employee is an employee younger than 18 years old.
However, there are also 2 age indications that the employer needs to know about, from full 13 years old and full 15 years old.
When hiring and using minor employees, the employer must ensure that the following rules strictly comply:
1. Minor employees may only do jobs suitable for their health to ensure their physical, intellectual, and personality development.
2. Employers, when employing minors, are responsible for taking care of the employees in terms of labor, health, and learning during the working process.
3. When employing minor employees, the employer must obtain the consent of the father, mother, or guardian of that employee. The employer must also make a separate monitoring book, record full name, date of birth, work being done, and results of periodical health checks, and present it at the request of a competent state agency when asked.
4. Employers must create opportunities for minor employees to study culture, vocational education, training, retraining, and improve vocational skills.
Employers when employing employees under the age of 18 need to follow the law to avoid violations.
Minor employees from full 15 years old to under 18 years old
Besides abiding the above rules, the employer hiring minor employees from 15 to 18 years old must also follow other particular requirements.
The Labor Code also clearly stipulates jobs that are prohibited from employing workers from full 15 years old to under 18 years old, including:
Forbidding to use the minor employees from full 15 years old to under 18 years old in the following tasks:
– Carrying or lifting heavy objects beyond the capacity of minors;
– Producing and trading in alcohol, wine, beer, tobacco, psychoactive substances or other addictive substances;
– Producing, using or transporting chemicals, gases, explosives;
– Maintenance and repair of equipment and machinery;
– Demolition of construction works;
– Cooking, blowing, casting, rolling, stamping, welding of metals;
– Diving, fishing offshore sea creatures;
– Other jobs that harm the physical, intellectual and personality development of minors.
Forbidding to use the minor employees from full 15 years old to under 18 years old in the following workplaces:
– Under water, underground, in caves, in tunnels;
– Construction site;
– Cattle slaughter establishments;
– Casinos, bars, discos, karaoke rooms, hotels, motels, sauna facilities, massage facilities; Lottery business points, electronic game services;
– Other workplaces that harm the physical, intellectual, and personality development of minors.
Minor employees from full 13 years old to under 15 years old
For minor employees from full 13 years old to under 15 years old, all of the above regulations for minor employees from full 15 years old to under 18 years old must be applied.
In addition, there are some other important regulations that employers, as well as the minor employees and their guardians, must take note.
According to the Labor Code 2019, when employing minor employees under the age of 15 to work, the employer must comply with the following regulations:
– Enter into a written labor contract with a person under 15 years of age and his/her legal representative;
– Arrange working hours without affecting the study time of minor employees under 15 years old;
– Must have a health certificate from a competent medical examination and treatment establishment certifying that the health of the minor employees under the age of 15 is suitable for the job and organize periodic health checks at least once every 6 months;
– Ensure working conditions, occupational safety and hygiene appropriate to the age group.
Notably, the employer is only allowed to recruit and employ minor employees from full 13 years old to under 15 years old to do light jobs as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 143 of the Labor Code 2019.
If the employer wants to recruit employees below the age of 13, they can only do that in works related to art, physical training, and sports jobs that do not harm the physical, intellectual and personality development of those under the age of 13.
The jobs and the work done must be approved by the specialized labor agency under the provincial People's Committee.
Lastly, regarding working hours, minor employees under the age of 15 must not work exceeding 4 hours in a day and 20 hours in a week. Overtime or work at night is not allowed.
Working hours of minor employees from full 15 years old to under 18 years old must not exceed 8 hours in a day and 40 hours in a week. Minor employees from full 15 years old to under 18 years old may work overtime or work at night in a number of occupations and jobs according to the list promulgated by the Minister of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs.
Originally published September 5, 2022
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.