EVFTA – Free Trade Agreement between EU and Vietnam
STATUS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF LABOR COMMITMENTS IN EVFTA IN VIETNAM AND ISSUES ON IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW PROVISIONS OF THE LABOR CODE AND RELATED LEGAL DOCUMENTS
- STATUS OF LEGALIZATION OF LABOR COMMITMENTS IN EVFTA IN VIETNAM
- ILO: committed to respecting, promoting and implementing the standards set out in the 1998 ILO Declaration.
- CPTPP: internalize and organize effective and efficient implementation of the rights stated in TB 1998 ILO Chapter 19 (effective: 3/8/18; in Vietnam: 1/14/19)
- EVFTA: supplement and/or amend domestic laws compatible with the 1998 ILO Declaration ( Approved by the National Assembly on June 8, 2020; officially effective on August 1, 2020 – Chapter 13. Trade and Sustainable Development, Article 13.4)
- Implementation roadmap
– For CPTPP: before 2022 (i.e. 3 years from the date the Agreement comes into effect with Vietnam), trade measures will not be applied to general labor commitments; before 2024, commitments on workers’ association rights will not be applied.
– Regarding EVFTA: Vietnam passed the 2019 Labor Code (in accordance with Resolution 57 of the National Assembly) and ratified ILO Convention 105 and Convention 87 according to Vietnam’s roadmap, according to Decision No. 12/QD-TTg dated January 24, 2019 approving the plan to implement the CPTPP Agreement: submitted to the National Assembly for ratification of ILO Convention 105 on the abolition of forced labor on June 8, 2020 and is expected to submit to the National Assembly for ratification of Convention 87 on freedom of association in 2023.
State management requirements on labor relations ( Directive 37-CT/TW and Decision 416 -TTg )
Perfecting the legal system
- a) The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs submits to the competent authority the Dossier for joining ILO Convention 87 on freedom of association – 2023;
- b) The Government issues a Decree guiding the implementation of the 2019 Labor Code on labor relations: Organizations representing employees at enterprises and the right to collective bargaining;
- c) The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor submits to the National Assembly amendments to the Trade Union Law to ensure consistency and synchronization in the legal system, in accordance with practical requirements and international integration, and to promote the role of trade union organizations in representing and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of workers in labor relations.
– The National Assembly builds a legal program to amend the Laws: Social Insurance, Employment, Health Insurance…
- Resolution 06/NQ-CP 2023 on labor market development…
- Decision 176/QD-TTg dated February 5, 2021 on the Labor Market Development Support Program to 2030.
- Decision 1861/QD-LĐTBXH dated November 18, 2024 on the Plan to implement a number of tasks and solutions to prevent and minimize collective labor disputes and strikes, contributing to stabilizing social security and order.
- Resolution 07/NQ-BCH dated August 29, 2024 of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor on Focusing resources on taking care of the welfare of union members and workers in the new situation.
- Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee issued Plan 907/KH-UBND dated February 27, 2024 to implement Decision 416/QD-TTg dated March 25, 2020 of the Prime Minister on the Plan to implement Directive 37-CT/TW dated September 3, 2019 of the Secretariat on strengthening leadership and direction to build harmonious, stable and progressive labor relations in the new situation in the City.
Resolution 02-NQ/TW dated June 12, 2021 of the Politburo
Target | 2023 | 2025 | 2030 | 2045 |
Union members (million) | 12 | 13.5 – Most businesses with more than 25 employees have a trade union . | 16.5 – Where there is no trade union organization, the majority of workers are gathered and participate in some trade union activities. | Most workers are union members. |
Percentage of businesses and union members with trade unions signing agreements | – | Over 70% | Over 85% | Over 99% |
Business Development (million) (*) | 1 | 1.5 | – | – |
(*) Resolution 58/NQ-CP dated April 21, 2023 on key policies and solutions to support businesses to proactively adapt, recover quickly and develop sustainably, by 2025 there will be 1.5 million businesses; of which about 35% to 40% of the total number of businesses have workers applying science and technology, innovation; 80% of businesses use trained workers.
- ISSUES ON IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW PROVISIONS OF THE LABOR CODE AND RELATED LEGAL DOCUMENTS
- Compliance with labor and social insurance laws of enterprises
1.1. On Dialogue, Conference, Collective Bargaining to Sign Collective Labor Agreement: (2023)
– Periodic dialogue: Grassroots trade unions coordinated with employers to organize 12,978/16,663 dialogue sessions (77.8%).
– Labor conferences: Grassroots unions coordinated with employers to organize 11,978/16,663 conferences (71.8%).
From 2022 to present, there are about 2,850 new Collective Labor Agreements, bringing the total number of Agreements to 10,582 copies (7,748 are still valid; there are 1,961 Type A Agreements and 2,048 Type B Agreements); most of the new Agreements include shift meals for workers at levels above 20,000 VND/meal.
(*) As of June 2024, the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Federation is managing 18,830 grassroots unions with 1,414,623 union members/1,537,577 workers, of which the non-state sector has 16,123 grassroots unions with 1,198,235 union members/1,261,733 workers.
1.2. About Social Insurance
In 2023, the city’s Social Insurance conducted 3,125 inspections and examinations, issued 238 decisions to handle administrative violations of social insurance and health insurance with a total amount of 13.1 billion VND; requested 1,531 businesses to pay social insurance debts of 312 billion VND.
– Participate in social insurance with a salary below the prescribed salary shown on the salary scale, payroll, labor contract, and salary payment notice (*).
– The amount of overdue payment as of December 31, 2023 is VND 5,005 billion, accounting for 5.86% of the collection plan assigned by Vietnam Social Security.
– First eight months of 2023: 108,958 people received unemployment insurance – up 9.7% over the same period last year.
– The number of workers moving from compulsory social insurance participants to informal workers with low, unstable incomes and not interested in social insurance regimes tends to increase.
(*) Chart: Number of people receiving unemployment benefits in Ho Chi Minh City in the first 6 months of 2024, classified by level of education
| Level | Proportion |
1. | No degree or certificate | 51% |
2. | University and post-graduate | 34% |
3. | Vocational College, Professional College | 8% |
4. | Vocational secondary school, professional secondary school | 4% |
5. | Have certificate, primary vocational certificate | 3% |
Total | 100% | |
(*) Chart of the number of people receiving unemployment insurance in Ho Chi Minh City in the first 6 months of 2024, classified by unemployment insurance benefit level
| Unemployment benefit level | Proportion |
1. | From 2-4 million | 62.92% |
2. | From 4-17.5 million | 31.17% |
3. | From 17.5 million to maximum benefit | 5.85% |
4. | Under 2 million | 0.06% |
Total | 100% | |
1.3. On labor relations in Ho Chi Minh City
– Develop a project to develop labor relations for 2022-2026 and perfect conciliation and agreement institutions .
– Situation of collective labor disputes and strikes – (number of disputes):
In the first 8 months of 2024, the labor relations situation in the city remained stable: there were 04 labor disputes leading to collective work stoppages with 712 workers. Compared to the same period in 2023, the number of work stoppages decreased by 02 cases and 907 workers participated.
The total number of collective labor disputes leading to work stoppages from 2022 to August 2024 was 24 cases with 8,447 workers participating, a significant decrease compared to the previous period (2019-2021 , there were 34 cases with 12,900 participants). The nature of collective labor disputes was also more peaceful, there was no phenomenon of workers being lured or provoked, and the collective work stoppages showed no signs of spreading to neighboring enterprises.
Recommendation
- Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry – Employers:
Propaganda and mobilize enterprises to strictly comply with the provisions of the law on labor – employment – social insurance; pay attention to dialogue and re-dialogue to improve the professional skills of workers, enhance negotiation and dialogue between parties in labor relations.
- Vietnam General Confederation of Labor:
– Guide trade unions at all levels to coordinate and participate with employers, build and implement grassroots democracy regulations well; train, foster and coach to improve negotiation and dialogue skills for grassroots trade union officials, contributing to building harmonious labor relations….
– By 2030, strive to have over 80% of dialogues with content on better welfare than regulations; at least 50% of Collective Labor Agreements signed/participated in by trade unions are classified as type B or higher.
Central and local competent state agencies
- Policy
- Resources
- Effective implementation
– The draft revised Trade Union Law is compatible with the Labor Code on employee representative organizations at the grassroots level.
– Draft Law on amendments: Employment, Occupational Safety and Hygiene, Health Insurance according to the perspective and goals of inclusive development and sustainable development.
– Issue a Decree on employee representative organizations at enterprises and the right to collective bargaining of employee representative organizations at enterprises ( Clause 4 , Article 172 ; Clause 2 , Article 174; Clause 2, Article 176 and Clauses 1 and 4, Article 68 of the 2019 Labor Code).
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