Circular No. 16/2003/TT-BLDTBXH guides the implementation of working hours and rest periods for workers engaged in seasonal work and export processing based on orders.

 

CIRCULAR

guiding the implementation of working hours and rest periods for workers engaged in seasonal work and export processing jobs

according to orders

Implementing Decree No. 109/2002/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2002 of the Government on amending and supplementing certain articles of Decree No. 195/CP dated December 31, 1994 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Labor Code regarding working hours and rest periods; after receiving comments from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, and relevant agencies, the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs guides the implementation of working hours and rest periods for workers engaged in seasonal production work and export processing jobs according to orders as follows:

I. SCOPE AND APPLICABLE SUBJECTS

1. The scope of application of this Circular includes the following enterprises and production and business establishments (collectively referred to as enterprises):

- Enterprises established and operating under the Law on State-Owned Enterprises, including: production and business enterprises; public welfare enterprises; enterprises belonging to the armed forces;

- Enterprises established and operating under the Enterprise Law, including: limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, partnerships, and private enterprises;

- Enterprises operating under the Law on Foreign Investment in Vietnam, including: joint ventures and wholly foreign-owned enterprises;

- Enterprises of political organizations and political-social organizations;

- Cooperatives operating under the Law on Cooperatives that employ labor under employment contracts;

- Individual households, individual businesses, and cooperative groups.

2. The subjects of application are workers with fixed-term employment contracts ranging from one to three years and indefinite-term employment contracts, belonging to the enterprises mentioned in Clause 1 above, including:

- Engaging in seasonal work in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries requiring immediate harvesting or immediate processing after harvesting without long-term storage;

- Processing export goods according to orders, which often depend on the time requested by customers.

II. WORKING HOURS AND REST PERIODS

1. Working hours for the aforementioned subjects are regulated as follows:

1.1 Standard annual working hour quota:

d.1. Amount of taxable income in Vietnam:_{Article 24} = [T_{N |||}- ( T_{organize credit institutions, foreign bank branches are responsible for organizing the implementation of this Circular.}+ T_{"5. The pre-tax weighted average cost of capital i (%) is determined according to the formula below:} + T_L )] x t_n (hours)

+ T_{Article 24}: Standard annual working hour quota for workers;

+ T_{N |||}: Total number of days in a year according to the Gregorian calendar, which is 365 days; or 366 days if it is a leap year;

+ T_{organize credit institutions, foreign bank branches are responsible for organizing the implementation of this Circular.}: Total weekly rest days in a year as stipulated in Article 72 of the Labor Code;

+ T_{"5. The pre-tax weighted average cost of capital i (%) is determined according to the formula below:}: Annual leave days amounting to 12, 14, or 16 days, increased according to seniority as stipulated in Articles 74 and 75 of the Labor Code and Point 2, Section II of Circular No. 07/LDTBXH-TT dated April 11, 1995;

+ T_L: Public holidays totaling 8 days;

+ t_n: Normal working hours per day are 8 hours; specifically for workers engaged in particularly arduous, hazardous, and dangerous occupations listed by the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs, it is 6 hours.

Example 1: Worker A has worked for 15 years under normal working conditions at Company X. The standard annual working hour quota for Worker A in 2003 is calculated as follows:

- Annual leave days for Worker A are: = 15 days.

Among them: + 12 days determined according to Article 74 of

the Labor Code;

+ 15/5 is the additional leave days based on seniority determined according to Article 75 of the Labor Code.

- Calculation table:

Therefore, the standard annual working hour quota for Worker A in 2003 is 2320 hours.

Example 2: Worker B has worked for 15 years in a particularly arduous occupation at Company Y. The standard annual working hour quota for Worker B in 2003 is calculated as follows:

- Annual leave days for Worker B are: = 19 days.

Among them: - 16 days determined according to Article 74 of

the Labor Code;

the Labor Code;

- Calculation table:

=[365- (52+19+8)]x6 = 1716 hours

Therefore, the standard annual working hour quota for Worker B in 2003 is 1716 hours.

1.2 Standard daily working hours:_{Article 24}Annually, based on the standard annual working hour quota (T

) calculated above, enterprises establish plans to determine the standard daily working hours for workers in the following cases:

a. Normal working day is 8 hours; or 6 hours for workers engaged in particularly arduous, hazardous, and dangerous occupations;

b. Working day exceeds 8 hours but does not exceed 12 hours; or more than 6 hours but not exceeding 9 hours for workers engaged in particularly arduous, hazardous, and dangerous occupations;

c. Working day exceeds 4 hours but less than 8 hours; or more than 3 hours but less than 6 hours for workers engaged in particularly arduous, hazardous, and dangerous occupations;

d. Full day off.

December

1.3 Principles for using the standard annual working hour quota:_{Article 24}as determined in Clause 1.1 above;

b. The number of standard working hours per day is less than 8 hours; or less than 6 hours for workers engaged in particularly arduous, hazardous, and dangerous jobs, if such plans have been established according to the guidance provided in Points c and d of Clause 1.2 above, then no compensation for downtime wages shall be paid;

Example 4: In February, Company X arranged for worker A to work 7 hours/day for 10 working days, followed by a full rest period of 11 working days. The company has arranged according to the plan stated in Example 3 above, therefore:

- The number of hours worked is less than the 8-hour normal working day is:

8 hours - 7 hours = 1 hour; this 1 hour does not require payment of downtime wages;

- The number of days off is 11 days, which also does not require payment of downtime wages.

c. If the planned standard working hours per day are not actually arranged for workers to work, then compensation for downtime wages must be paid;

Example 5: In March, due to business production conditions, Company X arranged for worker A to work 5 hours/day for 13 working days, followed by a full rest period of 10 working days. Therefore, compared to the plan established by the company for worker A in March as stated in Example 3 above:

- The actual working hours are less than the standard working hours per day: 7 hours - 5 hours = 2 hours; these 2 hours require payment of downtime wages;

- The number of downtime days compared to the plan is 10 days; these 10 days require payment of downtime wages.

d. If the standard working hours per day exceed 8 hours, or more than 6 hours for workers engaged in particularly arduous, hazardous, and dangerous jobs, as determined in Point b of Clause 1.2 above, then the excess hours shall not be counted towards the total annual overtime hours, but wages and other benefits related to overtime work must be paid according to Circular No. 15/2003/TT-BLDTBXH dated June 3, 2003 issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs on guiding the implementation of overtime work as stipulated in Decree No. 109/2002/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2002 of the Government;

Example 6: In April, Company X arranged for worker A to work 9 hours/day from Monday to Saturday according to the company's plan stated in Example 3 above. Thus, the number of hours worked exceeds the normal 8-hour working day: 9 hours - 8 hours = 1 hour. This 1 hour is not included in the total annual overtime hours, but wages and other benefits related to overtime work must be paid according to Circular No. 15/2003/TT-BLDTBXH dated June 3, 2003 issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs on guiding the implementation of overtime work as stipulated in Decree No. 109/2002/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2002 of the Government.

e. If the actual working hours per day exceed the planned standard working hours as guided in Clause 1.2 above, then those hours will be counted as overtime hours added to the total annual overtime hours, while wages and other benefits related to overtime work must be paid according to Circular No. 15/2003/TT-BLDTBXH dated June 3, 2003 issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs on guiding the implementation of overtime work as stipulated in Decree No. 109/2002/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2002 of the Government.

Example 7: In July, Company X arranged for worker A to work 8 hours/day. Thus, compared to the plan established by the company for worker A in July as stated in Example 3 above, the number of working hours exceeds the standard working hours: 8 hours - 7 hours = 1 hour. This 1 hour is included in the total annual overtime hours, while wages and other benefits related to overtime work must be paid according to Circular No. 15/2003/TT-BLDTBXH dated June 3, 2003 issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs on guiding the implementation of overtime work as stipulated in Decree No. 109/2002/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2002 of the Government.

f. The total number of standard working hours and overtime hours in a day shall not exceed 12 hours; for workers engaged in particularly arduous, hazardous, and dangerous jobs, it shall not exceed 9 hours;

g. The total number of standard working hours and overtime hours in a week shall not exceed 64 hours; for workers engaged in particularly arduous, hazardous, and dangerous jobs, it shall not exceed 48 hours;

Example 8: Due to urgent requirements, in May and June, Company X needs to arrange for overtime work. The company is permitted to organize as follows:

- In May, only the schedule stated in Example 3 can be organized without additional overtime work because the total weekly working hours are: (11 hours/day x 4 days) + (10 hours/day x 2 days) = 64 hours;

- In June, overtime of up to 1 hour per day can be arranged from Monday to Friday.

h. The total number of overtime hours in a year for each worker shall comply with the provisions of Circular No. 15/2003/TT-BLDTBXH dated June 3, 2003 issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs on guiding the implementation of overtime work as stipulated in Decree No. 109/2002/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2002 of the Government.

2. Rest time for the above subjects is regulated as follows:

2.1. Weekly, workers are entitled to at least one day off (24 consecutive hours). During peak months or when rush orders for export goods are required, if weekly rest cannot be provided, then at least four rest days must be guaranteed monthly for workers;

2.2. Rest periods during shifts, breaks between shifts, and shift changeovers for individual workers shall be implemented in accordance with the Labor Code as amended and supplemented. In cases where workers work more than 10 hours in a day, they must be given at least a 30-minute break before the ninth hour of work, which counts as working time;

2.3. Enterprises must arrange for workers to take their holidays, annual leave, and other paid rest days in accordance with the provisions of the amended and supplemented Labor Code.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

1. Responsibilities of enterprises;

- Annually, based on the production and business plan, proactively establish a plan for working hours and rest times for the year. When establishing the plan, opinions of the Trade Union Committee or the Temporary Trade Union Committee at the enterprise must be sought.

- Announce the work schedule and rest time within the enterprise for workers to be aware before implementation. Agree with workers on overtime work in accordance with Circular No. 15/2003/TT-BLDTBXH dated June 3, 2003, issued by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, guiding the implementation of overtime work as prescribed in Decree No. 109/2002/NĐ-CP dated December 27, 2002, of the Government.

- Annually, if the enterprise implements the working hours and rest time regime as stipulated in this Circular, it must register with the Provincial Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs according to the form attached to this Circular. In cases where the number of regular working hours per day is determined to be 8 hours; or 6 hours for workers engaged in particularly arduous, hazardous, and dangerous occupations, registration is not required.

2. Responsibilities of the Provincial Department of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs:

- Coordinate with the Provincial Federation of Trade Unions to disseminate this Circular to enterprises operating within their jurisdiction; regularly urge, inspect, and supervise the implementation; and at the same time strengthen inspection work, imposing strict penalties if violations are discovered.

- Receive the registration forms for the work schedule and rest time plan as guided by this Circular. Facilitate enterprises in organizing production and business operations.

- Summarize and report periodically every six months and annually to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs on the implementation of this Circular by enterprises within their jurisdiction.

3. This Circular takes effect fifteen days from the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

Repeal Circular No. 14/1999/TT-BLDTBXH dated May 18, 1999, issued by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, guiding the implementation of working hours and rest time regimes for workers engaged in seasonal production activities and export processing based on orders.

During the implementation process, if there are difficulties, please reflect them to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs for resolution.

 

(Form issued together with Circular No. 16/2003/TT-BLDTBXH dated June 3, 2003
of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs)

 

 

REGISTRATION OF WORK SCHEDULE AND REST TIME PLAN
WORKING REST PERIODS

of the Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs;

Name of Enterprise:

Type of Production and Business:

Seasonal Production Occupation or Export Processing Work:

1/ Annual Standard Working Hours Fund for one worker under normal working conditions in year …:

                                                T_Q =

2/ Plan for Allocation of the Annual Standard Working Hours Fund: