Circular No. 06-LD/TT guiding working hours for workers and officials

CIRCULAR

Decision No. 06-LĐITT dated May 6, 1971 of the Ministry of Labor guiding on working hours for workers and officials

To strictly manage labor time, contribute to improving labor productivity and work efficiency, the Council of Ministers issued Decision No. 119-CP dated July 19, 1969 on some measures to ensure labor time for state workers and officials, and the Ministry of Labor issued Circular No. 11-LĐ/TT dated October 20, 1969 to guide its implementation. Other specific regulations regarding working hours for workers and officials are also contained in many previous documents issued by the Ministry of Labor, making it difficult for enterprises and agencies to fully grasp them when implementing.

To assist enterprises and agencies in searching and applying these regulations, this Circular consolidates the provisions still in effect in those documents, with amendments and supplements to some points to suit the new situation.

I. REGULAR WORKING HOURS.

A. Regular Working Hours at offices, enterprises, construction sites, agricultural farms, forestry farms, and state business establishments, Other related issues (if any): In addition to the main task of assessing technologyand the environment, it is also necessary to consider and comment on otherrelated issues such as: are eight hours per day or forty-eight hours per week.

In cases where production characteristics, weather conditions, urgent seasonal tasks, or other exceptional circumstances require reallocating working hours within a day or within a week or month to be appropriate, the average working hours per day must still be eight hours, and the number of rest days according to the system must be guaranteed. For certain special cases, due to the nature of work within the eight-hour period which includes times when actual work is not continuously performed, the presence time of workers and officials may be more than the generally prescribed working hours depending on the specific circumstances of each enterprise or agency. Examples include:

Type 1: Nurses, gatekeepers, workshop guards, warehouse keepers, electricians on standby for immediate repairs, drivers for superiors... These individuals reside within the premises of the enterprise or agency and their presence and working hours can exceed eight hours.

Type 2: Workers responsible for operating power machinery, maintenance or cleaning of machines and tools, furnace cleaners, shift leaders during shift changes... Due to the nature of their responsibilities, they need to arrive earlier and leave later than others, thus their working hours and presence time may exceed eight hours.

Such special cases will be specified by the head of each enterprise or agency and recorded in the internal regulations of the enterprise or agency.

B. Calculation of Certain Time Periods into Regular Working Hours:

The following types of time periods are included in working hours:

1. Time spent preparing for and concluding work shifts, performing technical requirements for machine and equipment maintenance, and ensuring workplace hygiene and order (must be recorded in the enterprise's internal regulations);

2. Time spent changing work clothes for divers; 3. Rest breaks between work shifts for certain special cases (will have separate regulations); 4. Mealtime of thirty minutes per shift for enterprises operating three continuous shifts. However, for jobs that rotate to eat meals, such as welders, watchmen, pump operators, etc., there is no necessity to allocate mealtime within the eight-hour working period;

5. Breastfeeding time: Female workers and officials with children under one year old are entitled to a one-hour break daily for breastfeeding (including travel time). Depending on the distance from home or nursery and whether they work two shifts or a full eight-hour day, they can use the following arrangements:

- Two half-hour breaks per shift or one hour break per day over twelve months;

- Or in the first six months, a one-and-a-half-hour break per day. After six months, when the child starts eating additional food, a half-hour break per day is allowed. The initial one-and-a-half-hour break can be taken either mid-shift or divided into two parts: one hour mid-shift and thirty minutes at the end of the shift for those working a continuous eight-hour day, or forty-five minutes per shift for those working two shifts. If twins are born, an additional thirty minutes per day is granted for twelve months, and if triplets are born, an additional forty-five minutes per day for twelve months. In cases where female workers who work regular eight-hour shifts have children far from the workplace and cannot conveniently return home to breastfeed, or must wait for transportation, the time taken off for breastfeeding will be counted as overtime pay.

II. OVERTIME HOURS In addition to regular working hours per day, if workers are required to work overtime, they shall be entitled to overtime compensation for such hours.

Situations that may require overtime include those where urgent work necessitates completion without delay.

Specifically, these include: person Unexpected conditions failing to meet planned targets requiring additional hours to catch up (such as production halts due to machinery breakdowns, material shortages, rain, floods, or numerous worker illnesses); in the Field of Teachers and Educational Institution Managers - Urgent plans with critical nature assigned by superiors that the enterprise cannot cover with additional personnel;

- Critical tasks that must be carried out immediately to protect production; - Urgent and unexpected tasks that must be completed quickly within a short timeframe to avoid wasting raw materials and money and affecting quality and appearance, such as concrete pouring before rain, loading cargo onto ships to meet deadlines, or excavating foundations before impending rain or floods.

The maximum number of overtime hours per person per day is four, and per week is one hundred and fifty. When calculating these overtime hours, it is necessary to distinguish between compensatory hours and actual overtime hours..

In consideration of the health of workers engaged in particularly arduous and dangerous occupations, the working hours should be reduced to less than eight hours.

Specifically, for divers, the working hours (including time spent ascending and descending in water) shall not exceed six hours per day (Circular Joint Ministry of Labor - Health No. I9-TT/LB dated December 19, 1964); for specialized staff involved in radiographic work, the daily working hours shall be seven hours (Circular of the Ministry of Health No. 13-BYT/TT dated May 16, 1963); for workers installing river-crossing towers on the Red River, the working hours shall be seven hours on days when they must work at a height of 80 meters above ground level. For other occupations deemed necessary to reduce working hours below eight hours, specific regulations will apply.

Các nghề khác được xem xét cần giảm thời gian làm việc dưới 8 giờ sẽ có quy định riêng.

II. OVERTIME HOURS

In addition to regular working hours each day, if workers are required to work overtime, they shall be entitled to additional compensation for such overtime hours.

Situations where overtime may be worked include those where urgent tasks must be completed without delay due to unforeseen circumstances. Specifically:

- Due to unexpected conditions that prevent achieving planned production targets, necessitating additional hours to catch up (such as production halts due to machinery breakdowns, shortages of raw materials, rain, floods, many workers being ill, etc...).

- Due to urgent plans with critical nature assigned by superiors that the enterprise cannot complete by hiring additional personnel.

- Due to the necessity of carrying out special tasks to protect production.

- Due to the urgent and sudden nature of work that must be completed quickly within a short period to avoid wasting raw materials, money, and affecting quality and appearance, such as when pouring gravel concrete at construction sites, loading and unloading cargo to meet shipping deadlines, or excavating foundations for construction projects before impending rain or floods.

The maximum number of overtime hours for each person per day is four hours and 150 hours per week. When calculating these overtime hours, it is necessary to distinguish between compensatory hours and actual overtime hours.

The working days and hours recorded in the enterprise's plan, if due to objective conditions such as power outages, storms..., work must be stopped, workers will have rest during the days of cessation. If the Government pays the cessation wage to ensure the livelihood of workers, when the enterprise resumes normal operations, it must have a plan to organize make-up work for the lost labor time due to cessation. In this case, the enterprise director may encourage workers and staff to make up for the lost time on regular days or weekly holidays.

However, when organizing workers and staff to work overtime or make up for lost time, attention must be paid not to overwork them, not to use more than two days off in a month for overtime or make-up work, and not to exceed fourteen hours of overtime in a day. In extremely urgent cases, there is no limit to the number of additional working hours, which can be up to four hours a day, with the aim of completing tasks quickly, such as: emergency situations related to national defense, unexpected risks due to the failure of motive power machines, electrical or water supply machines that require concentrated repair and prevention of accidents caused by natural disasters... Nevertheless, the number of overtime hours must gradually decrease to the usual working hours, for example: (during emergencies, it may be possible to work 14 hours, but it will gradually decrease to 13, 12, 10, 9, and 8 hours).

Generally, the enterprise director must pay attention to ensuring the health of workers, finding every way to limit the number of overtime hours; and each time overtime is needed, it must rely on trade union organizations, youth organizations... to promote voluntary and self-awareness among the masses. In cases where it is necessary to work overtime, whether it is a lot or a little, it must be based on the actual production requirements to determine appropriately.

Overtime work is not required everywhere and at all times equally. For example: on construction sites, especially those involving urgent water conservancy projects; it is necessary to take advantage of favorable weather conditions, and construction production teams cannot operate as stably as enterprises, so they may sometimes need to work more overtime hours than enterprises. Due to different organizational arrangements, characteristics, and production requirements, overtime work in various production units is not the same. Even within an enterprise, some departments may need to work overtime while others do not, and one department may work more overtime than another.

Overtime work should have limits, depending on the circumstances and health conditions of each individual. Young single workers may work more overtime than older or weaker workers, or those with families. Pregnant women from the fifth month onwards, women with children under six months old who are breastfeeding, individuals under eighteen years old, and workers on reduced-hour schedules are exempt from overtime work.

In addition to the overtime hours already stipulated above, Article 15 of the Interim Regulations on Labor Protection issued by the Council of Ministers along with Decree No. 181-CP dated December 18, 1964 provides: "In special cases requiring additional work beyond the stipulated hours, permission from the Prime Minister is required."

This Circular replaces the following documents: Circular No. 5-LĐ/TT dated March 9, 1955 of the Ministry of Labor regarding working hours at government enterprises and construction sites (excluding Section II, Point G on days off);

- Circular No. 16-LĐ/TT dated September 6, 1957 of the Ministry of Labor amending the working hours regulations stipulated in Circular No. 5-LĐ/TT dated March 9, 1955;

- Circular No. 12-LĐ/TT dated May 12, 1958 of the Ministry of Labor guiding the implementation of wage systems and supplementing labor regulations for workers and officials of basic construction sites of Class III and Class I regarding working hours;

- Circular No. 461-LĐ/TL dated April 22, 1959 of the Ministry of Labor explaining issues related to overtime work.

Hanoi, May 6, 1971

THE MINISTER OF LABOR

 
 


                                              Nguyen Huu Khyeu