Circular No. 23-1998/TT-BGTVT stipulates working hours and rest periods for those engaged in particularly hazardous work in railway transportation.

CIRCULAR

Issued by the Ministry of Transport

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Regulations on working hours and rest periods for those engaged in special natured jobs in railway transportation

Implementing Article 80 of the Labor Code, and Clause 12 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 the agreement from Circular No. 259/LDTBXH-BHLĐ dated January 24, 1998 of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Transport hereby stipulates working hours and rest periods for those engaged in special natured jobs in railway transportation enterprises, production, business, and service organizations as follows:

II- SUPPORT MEASURES FOR STATE-OWNED AGRICULTURAL FARMS AND FORESTRY COMPANIES IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. In these Circulars, the following terms shall be understood as follows

Shift work system refers to the laborers taking turns continuously working day and night shifts, including weekly rest days and holidays, to fulfill the requirements of railway transportation operations and ensure that workers have sufficient rest time according to labor laws.

On-shift duration refers to the length of time specified for workers to be present at their workplace in a day to perform assigned tasks, including preparation time, operational time, on-site standby rest time, and completion time as prescribed by railway transportation technology.

Off-shift duration refers to the length of time specified for rest after completing a shift before starting the next shift.

Working on train system refers to laborers taking turns continuously working on trains to ensure train operation schedules and provide sufficient rest time for workers according to labor laws.

Train operation schedule refers to the time a train runs from the departure station to the turnaround station according to the train schedule, including necessary operational time at the departure station and turnaround station as prescribed by railway transportation technology.

Actual necessary working hours in a day (24 continuous hours) refer to the hours determined based on workload tasks, advanced average labor standards of the enterprise, including standard closing hours but excluding on-site standby rest time within the shift of the worker.

2. Determination of working hours and rest periods.

Based on the continuous or non-continuous nature and heavy or light workload of the job, employers determine actual necessary working hours in a day to arrange specific working hours and rest periods suitable for each position engaged in special natured jobs under the shift system and working on train system stipulated in this Circular, and must seek participation opinions from trade unions before implementation.

II- WORKING HOURS - REST PERIODS

A. SHIFT WORK SYSTEM

a) Cadres, civil servants, public officials, and workers as stipulated in Article 2 of Decree No. 178/2024/NĐ-CP dated December 31, 2024 (amended and supplemented by Decree No. 67/2025/NĐ-CP dated March 15, 2025) of the Government on policies and treatment for cadres, civil servants, public officials, workers, and armed forces personnel in the process of organizational restructuring of the political system, having a total mandatory social insurance contribution period of at least 15 years when working in heavy, hazardous, or dangerous jobs or extremely heavy, hazardous, or dangerous jobs listed by the agency under the Government responsible for labor administration, or working in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions including time worked in places with regional allowances of coefficient 0.7 or higher before January 1, 2021, and reaching the retirement age as specified in Appendix II issued together with Decree No. 135/2020/NĐ-CP, ceasing work immediately due to direct impact from organizational restructuring and implementation of the two-level local government model;

Workers inspecting, repairing, and servicing locomotives and carriages at locomotive and carriage stations, and workers supplying fuel, materials, and water to locomotives and carriages;

Staff managing and operating locomotives and carriages serving at locomotive and carriage stations, onboard service stations;

Dispatching at stations, dispatching at centers;

Shift leader, station master, ticket clerk, coupling, locomotive driving;

Personnel inspecting goods, carriages, serving passengers, transporting goods, security personnel at stations and stops;

Carriage cleaning workers;

Crossing guards;

Patrol, guard, and protect bridge, tunnel, railway workers;

Information, signal, and power maintenance workers on duty at stations, stops, and power supply sources, switchboards.

2. Working hours and rest periods

a) For positions performing particularly heavy, hazardous, dangerous work with large volumes continuously day and night, if the actual necessary working time in a day is 24 hours then:

The shift start time shall not exceed 6 hours, the shift end time shall be at least 12 hours, the maximum number of shifts in a month is 26 shifts.

b) For positions working in places with large volumes of work continuously day and night, where the actual necessary working time in a day is 24 hours and it takes from 1 to 2 hours for shift handover duties then:

The shift start time shall not exceed 8 hours, the shift end time shall be at least 22 hours, the maximum number of shifts in a month is 22.5 shifts, or:

The shift start time shall not exceed 12 hours, the shift end time shall be at least 22 hours, the maximum number of shifts in a month is 15 shifts.

c) For positions working in places with large volumes of work continuously day and night, where the actual necessary working time in a day is 24 hours then:

The shift start time shall not exceed 8 hours, the shift end time shall be at least 12 hours, the maximum number of shifts in a month is 26 shifts, or:

The shift start time shall not exceed 12 hours, the shift end time shall be at least 22 hours, the maximum number of shifts in a month is 17.5 shifts.

d) For positions working in places with relatively large volumes of work but not continuously, where the actual necessary working time in a day does not exceed 16 hours then:

The shift start time shall not exceed 8 hours, the shift end time shall be at least 10 hours, the maximum number of shifts in a month is 21 shifts; employers may arrange for employees to work two consecutive shifts before taking a break.

đ) For positions working in places with small volumes of work not continuously, where the actual necessary working time in a day does not exceed 12 hours then:

The shift start time shall not exceed 12 hours, the shift end time shall be at least 10 hours, the maximum number of shifts in a month is 26 shifts; employers may arrange for employees to work two consecutive shifts before taking a break.

e) For positions working in places with small volumes of work not continuously, where the actual necessary working time in a day does not exceed 8 hours then:

The shift start time shall not exceed 16 hours, the shift end time shall be at least 8 hours, the maximum number of shifts in a month is 26 shifts; employers may arrange for employees to work three consecutive shifts before taking a break.

3. Overtime working hours in a month shall not exceed 39 hours for positions performing particularly heavy, hazardous, dangerous work as specified in point a, Clause 2, Section A, Part II of this Circular, and shall not exceed 52 hours for positions performing other work as specified in points b, c, d, đ, e, Clause 2, Section A, Part II of this Circular.

Overtime working hours in a year shall not exceed 200 hours.

B. WORKING REGIME ON TRAINS

a) Cadres, civil servants, public officials, and workers as stipulated in Article 2 of Decree No. 178/2024/NĐ-CP dated December 31, 2024 (amended and supplemented by Decree No. 67/2025/NĐ-CP dated March 15, 2025) of the Government on policies and treatment for cadres, civil servants, public officials, workers, and armed forces personnel in the process of organizational restructuring of the political system, having a total mandatory social insurance contribution period of at least 15 years when working in heavy, hazardous, or dangerous jobs or extremely heavy, hazardous, or dangerous jobs listed by the agency under the Government responsible for labor administration, or working in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions including time worked in places with regional allowances of coefficient 0.7 or higher before January 1, 2021, and reaching the retirement age as specified in Appendix II issued together with Decree No. 135/2020/NĐ-CP, ceasing work immediately due to direct impact from organizational restructuring and implementation of the two-level local government model;

Train drivers, assistant drivers;

Passenger train conductors, freight train conductors;

On-train personnel including service staff, escorts, security personnel, cargo handling and equipment staff.

2. Working hours and rest periods

a) For train drivers and assistant drivers: working hours shall not exceed 12 hours in a day, 156 hours in a month. Overtime working hours in a month shall not exceed 39 hours, in a year shall not exceed 200 hours.

b) For passenger train conductors, freight train conductors, and on-train personnel: working hours shall not exceed 12 hours in a day, 208 hours in a month. Overtime working hours in a month shall not exceed 52 hours, in a year shall not exceed 200 hours.

After a train journey, the rest period before starting the next journey shall be at least 12 hours. In cases where the train schedule requires, the rest period between two journeys can be shorter but must be equal to or greater than the working hours of the previous journey.

Rest periods between train journeys if they have to be carried out on the train or when receiving work must wait or move to another location, those times shall not be considered as working hours.

đ) For short sections, locomotive consolidation, and trains that alternate shifts (rest between two train journeys) on the train, employers may apply the shift working regime as stipulated in Clause 2, Section A, Part II of this Circular.

e) In all cases where the train encounters obstacles, accidents..., the responsibility of positions working on the train is to return the train to the designated place and only after handing over the train can they take their rest.

4. Liquid bull semen WEEKLY LEAVE, ANNUAL LEAVE, OTHER LEAVES

Positions working under the shift system and the train working regime as stipulated in Sections A and B, Part II of this Circular shall enjoy weekly leave, annual leave, holidays, and other paid leaves according to the Labor Code and guiding documents of the Labor Code.

D. OTHER PROVISIONS

1. For some jobs that cannot leave the workplace, employers must arrange for employees to eat and rest on-site to ensure the job.

2. Employers must arrange to ensure eating and resting places for positions that need to eat and rest at the workplace or on the train during their shifts.

3. In emergency situations such as natural disasters, fires, enemy attacks, traffic accidents, employers have the right to mobilize labor to quickly restore traffic.

III- IMPLEMENTATION

1. Employers in organizations, production, business, and railway transportation services enterprises are responsible for:

a) Determining the actual necessary working time in a day suitable for each position at specific workplaces and developing measures to implement the shift working regime and the train working regime as stipulated in this Circular.

b) Directly notifying employees, recording in employment contracts, collective labor agreements, and stipulating working hours and rest periods in enterprise labor regulations regarding the working hours and rest periods as stipulated in this Circular.

This Circular takes effect fifteen days from the date of signature. Previous documents with contents contrary to this Circular are hereby abolished. Any difficulties encountered during implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Transport for resolution./.