What should employees do when a company owes 3 months salary in Vietnam?

Salary is always the top concern of every employee. However, businesses do not always do well in paying salaries on time due to difficulties in operations. So how long can businesses owe employees’ salaries? When a company owes 3 months’ salary, what should the employee do? In this article, LSX legal firm will answer the question: “What should employees do when a company owes 3 months salary in Vietnam?”

Legal ground

• Labor Code 2019

Can a company owe 3 months salary?

First of all, on the principle of paying wages to employees, Article 94 of the Labor Code 2019 clearly stipulates; employers shall directly, fully, and punctually pay salaries to their employees. In the cases where an employee can not directly receive his/her salary, the employer may pay it through a person legally authorized by the employee.
Accordingly, for employees who receive a monthly salary, they will receive once a month or semi-monthly. The time of salary payment shall be agreed upon by the two parties and must be fixed at a cyclical time (Clause 2, Article 97 of the Labor Code 2019).
However, according to Clause 4, Article 97 of the Labor Code 2019, in case of a force majeure event in which the employer unable to pay the employee on schedule after all remedial measures have been implemented; then the salary shall be paid within 30 days.
Thus, based on this provision, the law allows the employer to delay the payment of wages to the employee if due to force majeure reasons but not exceeding 30 days.
Therefore, the company’s 03-month unpaid salary debt to employees represents a violation of the Labor Code.

Can employees receive additional compensation when the company owed wages for 3 months?

To ensure the rights of employees, Clause 4, Article 97 of the Labor Code 2019 provides as follows:
” In case a salary is paid at least 15 days behind schedule, the employer shall pay the employee a compensation that worth at least the interest on the amount paid behind schedule at the latest 1-month interest rate quoted by the bank at which the employee’s salary account opened.”
Accordingly, in all cases where the employer fails in paying wages for 15 days or more; the employer must compensate the employee an amount at least equal to the interest of the late payment amount.
This interest rate applied according to the deposit interest rate of 01 month announced by the bank where the employer opens the salary account for the employee announced at the time of salary payment.
Thus, in this case, if the company owed your salary for 3 months, when the company pays the salary; it must pay an additional amount of compensation with the minimum amount equal to the interest of the late payment.

What should employees do to protect their rights?

If the company continues to not pay wages, it will seriously affect the lives and activities of employees, especially those who do not have savings. Therefore, to protect their own interests, employees can use one of the following ways:

Firstly, negotiate with the company to pay the salary

If the two sides find a common voice, the company agrees to pay the salary to the employee, this will be the optimal, fastest, and most economical solution.

Secondly, file a complaint against the company that does not pay wages

In case the parties cannot reach an agreement; the employee can complain about the employee’s non-payment of wages to the employer (first complaint); and make a complaint to the Chief Inspector of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (the second complaint) according to Articles 5 and 15 of Decree 24/2018/ND-CP.

Thirdly, charged the company’s salary arrears

According to Clause 1, Article 37 of Decree 24/2018/ND-CP; employees have the right to denounce directly to competent agencies and individuals about the company’s behavior of arrears.
Specifically, the denunciation settlement competence specified in Articles 39 and 41 of Decree 24/2018/ND-CP as follows:

• Chief Inspector of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall settle denunciations of violations of the law on labor; occupational safety, and health under the management of the Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs.
• The Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs considers and handles denunciations that the Chief Inspector of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs has settled but still has further denunciations or the denunciation has not yet settled beyond the prescribed time limit; handle denunciations assigned by the Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs.

Fourthly, Mediation through a Labor Mediator

According to Clause 1, Article 190 of the Labor Code 2019, the time limit to request a labor mediator to settle an individual labor dispute is 06 months from the date on which a party discovers the act of infringement of their lawful rights and interests.
The mediator shall complete the mediation process within 05 working days from the date that the labor mediator receives the request for dispute settlement from the employee (based on Article 188 of the Labor Code 2019).
At the conciliation meeting, the employee must present or authorize another person to participate. Here, the parties will agree on a solution to each other, then:

• In case no agreement reached, the employee can consider the plan proposed by the labor conciliator;
• In case the conciliation unsucceeded or succeeded but the employer does not perform or the settlement time expires, the employee may request the Labor Arbitration Council or the Court to settle the dispute.

Fifthly, sue in court

According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 188 of the Labor Code 2019, a wage dispute must undergo a mediation procedure by a Labor Mediator, before suing at the Court.
Under Clause 3, Article 190 of the Labor Code 2019; the time limit for requesting a court to settle a dispute is 01 year from the date of discovering that one’s lawful rights and interests have been violated.
The employee sends a petition to the People’s Court of the district where the company’s head office located and carries out civil procedures according to regulations.

Legal service of LSX Legal Firm

LSX legal firm provides legal services to clients in various legal areas. To make your case convenient, LSX will perform:

• Legal advice related to new regulations in business suspension;
• Representing in drafting and editing documents;
• We commit the papers to be valid, and legal for use in all cases;
• Represent to submit documents, receive results, and hand them over to customers.

With a team of experienced, reputable, and professional consultants; The firm is always ready to support and work with clients to solve legal difficulties.

Furthermore, using our service, you do not need to do the paperwork yourself, We guarantee to help you prepare documents effectively and legally.

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