Circular No. 54/2015/TT-BLDTBXH guides working hours and rest periods for workers engaged in seasonal production work and piecework based on orders.

CIRCULAR

Guidelines on working hours and rest time for workers engaged in seasonal production work and piecework manufacturing for workers

engaged in seasonal production work and piecework based on orders

_________________________

Pursuant to Article 117 of the Labor Code dated June 18, 2012;

Pursuant to Decree No. 45/2013/NĐ-CP dated May 10, 2013 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Labor Code on working hours, rest time, occupational safety, and labor hygiene;No. Pursuant to Decree No. 106/2012/NĐ-CP dated December 20, 2012 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, this Circular provides guidelines on working hours and rest time for workers engaged in seasonal production work and piecework manufacturing.

This Circular guides the establishment of plans and the organization of implementation of working hours and rest time for workers engaged in seasonal production work and piecework manufacturing.on1. Workers who enter into fixed-term employment contracts with durations from twelve to thirty-six months and indefinite-term employment contracts performing the following work:iPursuant to the request of the Director General of the Department of Vocational Education;

At the proposal of the Director of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health,

The Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs issues this Circular stipulating the adjustment rate for monthly salary and income already paid for social insurance;ib) Piecework manufacturing dependent on the timing requested by the customer, including textile, garment, leather, footwear, and electronic component assembly industries.FUNCTIONS, DUTIES, POWERS, ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, OPERATIONAL REGULATIONS, AND RELATIONSHIPS OF MANAGEMENT BOARDS; DUTIES, POWERS OF THE CHAIRPERSON, VICE CHAIRPERSON (IF ANY), SECRETARY, AND MEMBERS OF MANAGEMENT BOARDS2. Employers using workers for the work specified in Clause 1 of this Article include enterprises and production and business establishments as follows:

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

a) Companies and enterprises operating under the Law on Enterprises;

Article 2. Applicability

b) Cooperatives and Cooperative Federations operating under the Law on Cooperatives that employ workers under employment contracts.

a) Seasonal production work in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and salt industry, which requires immediate harvesting or immediate processing after harvesting without long-term storage;

b) Piecework based on orders, which depends on the time requested by the customer, including industries such as textiles, garments, leather, footwear, and electronic component assembly.

The total number of weekly rest days in a year shall be determined according to the provisions of Article 110 of the Labor Code;

The annual leave is 12, 14, or 16 days and increases according to years of service as stipulated in Articles 111 and 112 of the Labor Code and Article 7 of Decree No. 45/2013/NĐ-CP dated May 10, 2013 of the Government detailing certain provisions of the Labor Code on working hours, rest time, occupational safety, and labor hygiene;

The number of public holidays in a year is ten days;

Article 3. Standard annual working hour quota

T_{Article 24} = [T_{N |||} - (T_{organize credit institutions, foreign bank branches are responsible for organizing the implementation of this Circular.} + T_{session number} + T_LThe standard daily working hours are eight hours; for workers engaged in particularly arduous, dangerous, and hazardous occupations listed by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs, it is six hours._{For power plants invested under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model, n is determined according to the operational period of the power plant stipulated in the BOT contract.} (hours)

Where:

- T_{Article 24}: Standard annual working hour quota of the worker;

- 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.}Annually, based on the standard annual working hour quota (TQ) calculated according to the guidance provided in Article 3 of this Circular, employers shall prepare a plan to determine the standard daily working hours for workers as follows:

- T_{session number}1. Working days with standard working hours of eight hours or six hours for workers engaged in particularly arduous, dangerous, and hazardous occupations;

- T_L2. Working days with standard working hours exceeding eight hours but not more than twelve hours, or exceeding six hours but not more than nine hours for workers engaged in particularly arduous, dangerous, and hazardous occupations;

- t_{For power plants invested under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model, n is determined according to the operational period of the power plant stipulated in the BOT contract.}3. Working days with standard working hours ranging from four to less than eight hours, or from three to less than six hours for workers engaged in particularly arduous, dangerous, and hazardous occupations;

Article 4. Establishing a plan to determine standard daily working hours

1. In a year, the total standard working hours planned according to the guidance provided in Article 4 of this Circular (including rest time within the day counted as working hours) shall not exceed the standard annual working hour quota (TQ) determined in Article 3 of this Circular.

2. If the standard daily working hours are less than eight hours or less than six hours for workers engaged in particularly arduous, dangerous, and hazardous occupations, and have been planned according to the guidance provided in Clause 3 and Clause 4 of Article 4 of this Circular, then the employer does not need to pay wages for non-working hours to the workers.

4. If the standard daily working hours for workers engaged in particularly arduous, dangerous, and hazardous occupations exceed eight hours or six hours and have been determined in the plan in Clause 2 of Article 4 of this Circular, then the excess hours shall not be considered overtime hours.

5. If the actual daily working hours exceed the planned standard working hours according to the guidance provided in Article 4 of this Circular, then those excess hours shall be counted as overtime hours added to the total annual overtime hours, and the employer must pay overtime wages and implement related overtime regulations for workers in accordance with the Labor Code.

4. Full-day off.

Article 5. Principles for using the standard annual working hour quota

1. The total standard working hours and overtime hours in a day shall not exceed twelve hours; for workers engaged in particularly arduous, dangerous, and hazardous occupations, it shall not exceed nine hours.

a) The total standard working hours and overtime hours in a week shall not exceed sixty-four hours; for workers engaged in particularly arduous, dangerous, and hazardous occupations, it shall not exceed forty-eight hours.

3. If the standard daily working hours have been planned but are not arranged for the worker to work in reality, then the employer must pay wages for non-working time to the worker.

b) The total monthly overtime hours shall not exceed thirty-two hours; for workers engaged in particularly arduous, dangerous, and hazardous occupations, it shall not exceed twenty-four hours.

c) The employer decides to apply either the weekly limit on standard working hours and overtime hours as stipulated in point a or the monthly limit on overtime hours as stipulated in point b of this clause and must record it in the annual working hours and rest time plan as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 8 of this Circular.

Article 6. Standard daily working hours and overtime hours limit

If the decision is made to apply the monthly limit on overtime hours as stipulated in point b of this clause, then at the same time, the total standard working hours in a week shall not exceed fifty-six hours; for workers engaged in particularly arduous, dangerous, and hazardous occupations, it shall not exceed forty-two hours.

2. The limits on standard working hours and overtime hours per week and month are stipulated as follows:

1. Weekly, workers shall have at least one day off (twenty-four consecutive hours). During months of peak season or rush orders for export piecework manufacturing, if weekly rest days cannot be implemented, then at least four rest days must be guaranteed for workers each month.

b) The total number of overtime hours in a month shall not exceed 32 hours; specifically, for workers engaged in particularly arduous, hazardous, and dangerous occupations, it shall not exceed 24 hours.

c) The employer decides to choose between applying the standard working hour limit and weekly overtime hours as stipulated in point a or the monthly overtime hour limit as stipulated in point b of this clause, and must record this in the annual plan of working hours and rest periods as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 8 of this Circular.

In the case of deciding to apply the monthly overtime hour limit as stipulated in point b of this clause, the total number of standard working hours in a week shall not exceed 56 hours; specifically, for workers engaged in particularly arduous, hazardous, and dangerous occupations, it shall not exceed 42 hours.

3. The total number of overtime hours for each worker in one year shall not exceed 300 hours.

Article 7. Rest Time

1. Weekly, workers shall be entitled to at least one day off (24 consecutive hours). During months with seasonal work or urgent piecework for export based on orders, if weekly rest cannot be provided, then there must be at least four days off for workers in a month.

2. Rest periods during working hours and shift change rest periods for each employee shall be implemented in accordance with the Labor Code. If an employee works for ten hours or more in a day, the employer must arrange at least thirty minutes of additional rest time included in the working hours, in addition to regular break times within the normal work shift.

3. Enterprises must arrange for employees to have sufficient leave days for holidays, annual leave, and other paid rest days in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Code.

Article 8. Responsibilities of Employers

1. Annually, based on production and business plans, proactively establish and adjust the plan for working hours and rest periods for the year according to the form attached as Appendix 1 to this Circular. When establishing or adjusting the plan, opinions of the representative organizations of labor unions at the workplace must be consulted. Refer to examples in Appendix 2 attached to this Circular during the process of developing and implementing the plan for working hours and rest periods.

In cases where the standard working hours for all working days in the year are uniformly eight hours or six hours for employees engaged in particularly arduous, toxic, or dangerous occupations, there is no need to prepare a plan according to the form mentioned above in Appendix 1.

2. Notify the plan and adjusted working hour and rest period schedules within the enterprise or production and business facilities at least thirty days before implementation; agree with employees on overtime work in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Code.

3. Agree with employees on the method of paying wages on a seasonal basis or evenly distributed throughout the year.

4. Report annually to the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs of the locality about the implementation of this Circular in the report on occupational safety and health.

Article 9. Responsibilities of the Department of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs

1. Coordinate with relevant agencies to disseminate and guide enterprises, production and business establishments located in the area about this Circular.

2. Regularly urge, supervise, inspect, and audit the implementation of regulations on working hours and rest periods at enterprises and production and business facilities, and handle violations according to the laws on labor.

3. Report annually to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs on the implementation of this Circular by enterprises and production and business facilities located within their jurisdiction, together with the report on occupational safety and health work.

Article 10. Effective Date

1. This Circular takes effect from February 10, 2016.

2. Circular No. 33/2011/TT-BLDTBXH dated November 18, 2011, issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs guiding the implementation of the system of working hours and rest periods for employees engaged in seasonal work and export processing jobs according to orders ceases to be effective from the date this Circular takes effect.

3. The provisions regarding night work hours, additional work hours in special cases, and unpaid leave for the subjects covered under this Circular shall be implemented in accordance with current labor regulations.

4. Any issues arising during the implementation process should be reported to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs for study and resolution./.