Joint Circular No. Number: 13-TT/LB Regarding the explanation and guidance on the implementation of the Rules on Labor Discipline in State Enterprises and Agencies

CIRCULAR

OF THE MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS JOINT DECREE NO. 13/TT-LB
DATE 30 AUGUST 1966 INTERPRETING AND GUIDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REGULATIONS ON LABOUR DISCIPLINE IN ENTERPRISES AND STATE ORGANIZATIONS,
STATE ORGANIZATIONS

THE MINISTER OF LABOR

THE MINISTER OF THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

Respectfully submitted to:

Ministries, agencies at the level of ministries, agencies under the Council of Ministers.

Administrative committees of regions, cities, and provinces.

On December 31, 1964, the Council of Ministers issued Decree No. 195-CP promulgating regulations on labour discipline in enterprises and state organizations.

Now, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, after reaching consensus with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, issues this Circular to interpret and guide the implementation of the aforementioned regulations.

I- OBJECTIVE, MEANING, PRINCIPLES

Labour discipline is a necessary condition for ensuring the successful completion of production plans and work programs in enterprises and state organizations; it also reflects the political awareness, organizational consciousness, and spirit of mastery of workers and officials in a concentrated manner.

Labour discipline is stipulated as a state system and has significant political and economic implications. The five articles of discipline provide specific grounds for workers and officials to strive for high productivity, contribute the most to socialism, especially during the current period of simultaneous production and combat against the United States to save the country; they also serve as specific grounds for workers and officials to cultivate themselves into new people and struggle against phenomena of irresponsibility, failure to complete production plans and work programs, producing defective products, working arbitrarily without obeying superiors, wasting raw materials, being late for work, shirking duties, leaving work擅自添加了内容，已移除。请严格按照指示翻译，不要添加任何解释或额外信息。根据要求，仅翻译给出的文本，不进行任何补充或修改。

The main principle of labour discipline is to educate everyone to voluntarily comply with the rules and regard them as their duty. Therefore, enterprise and organization heads, trade unions, and youth labor organizations must pay attention and continuously foster a strict sense of compliance with labour discipline among workers and officials; on the other hand, timely rewards should be given to those who achieve outstanding results, and strict handling of those who violate the rules should be carried out to enhance labour discipline in enterprises and organizations.

II- CONTENT OF LABOUR DISCIPLINE

The specific content of the five articles of labour discipline is as follows:

1- "Implement work quotas accurately, complete production plans and work programs with the best quality." The primary requirement of labour discipline is that each worker and official must fulfill their assigned tasks well. In production, workers must ensure the completion of quotas regarding quantity and quality of products, while departments without quotas must complete production plans or staff members must fully perform their assigned responsibilities and complete work programs. Products and work completed must meet established quality standards (as defined by the State).

2- "Strictly follow directives and resolutions from superiors and responsibility systems prescribed in production and work, respect technical and safety regulations." This requires workers and officials to respect organizational structures and State regulations in production and work. When receiving directives and resolutions from superiors, they must strictly comply; if encountering obstacles that prevent compliance, they must report promptly. Each person must fulfill their responsibilities according to their position in production and work. After being disseminated and studied, all must strictly adhere to technical and safety regulations to ensure product quality, avoid waste of raw materials and energy, and prevent accidents.

3- "Strictly follow enterprise and organization rules, fully and reasonably utilize the working hours prescribed by the State." To ensure the effective implementation of State systems and strict adherence to labour discipline, every enterprise and organization must have internal rules. These rules must be based on current State laws and regulations, combined with the specific circumstances of the entity.

AT For production and work units (workshops, production teams, bureaus, departments, institutes, offices, etc.), the main content of the rules is to specify the responsibilities of each individual (from supervisors to staff members), outline work procedures, and define relationships between individuals within the unit in production and work. Rules are developed by the collective of workers and officials in the unit and promulgated by the head. Once promulgated, everyone must strictly adhere to them. Workers and officials must fully utilize the working hours prescribed by the State, not be late or leave early; during working hours, they must make full use of time, avoid waste, refrain from personal activities, and not leave their posts without permission.

Under the current situation of simultaneous production and combat, this article of discipline must be fully adhered to; unauthorized absences and unexcused leaves must be dealt with strictly and promptly.

4- "Protect public property, practice thrift, oppose wastage of raw materials, time, heighten revolutionary vigilance, and safeguard State secrets." Under socialism, machinery, buildings, raw materials, etc., are public property, and everyone has the responsibility to protect them from loss or damage; anyone who violates this is committing a crime. Raw materials must be used rationally and economically. If anyone is found to be violating public property or causing wastage, it must be reported to superiors for handling.

In the cause of building socialism, the enemy always seeks to sabotage our labor achievements, therefore everyone must be vigilant; if anyone exhibits suspiciously bad actions such as plotting to destroy machinery, works, stealing documents, spreading rumors... they must report to those responsible to promptly prevent them. Workers and staff have the responsibility to keep secret documents and information related to the operation of enterprises and agencies within the scope defined by state secrets.

5- "Maintain order and hygiene at the workplace." In production as well as work, the workplace must be orderly, meaning no one is allowed to make noise (except for production and work requirements), not to walk around in a disorderly manner obstructing others' work. Machinery, tools, raw materials, and other working equipment in enterprises and agencies need to be arranged neatly, kept well, and maintained properly. The workplace and production areas need to be kept clean. The heads of enterprises and agencies shall specify the details of maintenance and hygiene preservation, assigning people responsible for these tasks.

To ensure the regular operation of enterprises and agencies, creating favorable conditions to boost production and work, all workers and staff must strictly adhere to the above five labor discipline rules. Leaders must set an example by strictly adhering to these rules, organizing work reasonably, providing timely material, technical, and necessary documentation to ensure uninterrupted production and work, and enforcing labor laws and regulations to improve living conditions for workers and staff. These are important conditions to ensure that workers and staff strictly adhere to socialist labor discipline.

To ensure the content of the five labor discipline rules always aligns with production and work requirements and specific circumstances of enterprises and agencies, the enterprise director or agency head must regularly seek opinions from the masses to supplement internal regulations, perfect production norms and procedures, or work systems and programs.

III- REWARD AND DISCIPLINE

1- Reward. Article 4 of the Charter stipulates that "Workers and staff who achieve many merits in complying with labor discipline will be rewarded according to the general reward system." Thus, those who achieve merits in complying with labor discipline, reflected in exceeding production and work targets, protecting state property, having many innovative ideas in production and work, will be rewarded to encourage those who have achieved merits in various aspects or several aspects in complying with labor discipline. Depending on the level of achievement of each person, the enterprise director or agency head will coordinate with the Trade Union Executive Committee to provide rewards. Forms of reward include commendation in production teams, workshops, departments, bureaus, institutes, throughout the enterprise or agency; issuing certificates of merit, medals from the base; recommending the Administrative Committee or the Ministry in charge to issue certificates of merit, medals; recommending the Prime Minister, President to award medals; if there are significant achievements, recommending the Government to confer orders, etc...

Besides rewarding individuals, units that achieve many merits in complying with labor discipline also receive rewards in the forms mentioned above. Commendation and reward for units are decided by the direct leadership of the unit or recommended upwards according to the current reward classification system.

2- Discipline. Article 5 of the charter stipulates that "Workers and staff who violate shortcomings in complying with labor discipline shall bear one of the following disciplinary measures depending on the severity of their mistakes:"

1- Reprimand.

2- Warning.

3- Demotion in position, demotion in rank, transfer to another job.

4- Compulsory resignation.

Following the aforementioned principle, socialist labor discipline is self-discipline, so the main measure is to educate everyone to strictly comply with the rules. However, if after positive education, workers and staff do not correct their behavior, strict action must be taken.

Those reprimanded are those who commit minor faults temporarily, without systematic nature, or have been criticized but did not correct themselves.

Those who repeatedly commit offenses after being reprimanded, or commit faults with a common nature but systematically, or although it is their first offense but with relatively serious nature, will be warned. A warning is a prelude to inform the offender that if they do not actively correct their faults and commit new ones, they will face harsher treatment.

Those who commit serious errors or are unworthy in production or work, unable to hold their positions or jobs, will be demoted in position, demoted in rank, or transferred to another job. Demotion in position applies to cadres and technical, administrative personnel listed in the salary scale; demotion in rank applies to workers and production staff listed in the national salary scales. Those who are disciplined and transferred to another job are those who commit serious violations and cannot be handled under the two cases mentioned above due to lack of qualifications and trustworthiness to continue their profession or work. After being disciplined with demotion in position, demotion in rank, or transfer to another job, the offender can only be assigned to work at a lower pay grade than before; generally, they should be employed within the limits of their professional field. In special cases where violating labor discipline requires transferring to another profession and reducing the pay grade by two levels or more, it must be reviewed or commented on by the Ministry or General Department in charge (for enterprises and agencies managed by the Ministry or General Department) or the Administrative Committee (for enterprises and agencies under local Administrative Committee management).

Those who repeatedly commit serious errors, systematically, have been helped by the collective but fail to correct them, or those who commit severe disciplinary violations causing significant political and economic harm to the State to the extent that they cannot continue working, shall be compulsorily dismissed. The form of compulsory dismissal for workers and officials is the heaviest form of disciplinary action, so when deciding it must be extremely cautious, thoroughly researching and analyzing the circumstances of the errors and shortcomings, soliciting full opinions from the Trade Union Executive Committee, and seeking opinions from Ministries, General Departments, or Administrative Committees as in cases where workers and officials are transferred to other professions or demoted by two salary grades or more.

Those who commit serious errors or shortcomings as recorded in Article 8 of the regulations may be prosecuted before the Court. People prosecuted before the Court but not detained may still be allowed to continue working, or may be suspended from duty, depending on the nature and degree of their criminal acts. Workers and officials who commit crimes, are temporarily detained pending trial, generally have not yet been compulsorily dismissed. In special cases where the crime of the person is clearly established and deemed unworthy to be a worker or official of the State, the director of the enterprise, the head of the agency, or the competent authority, after completing the procedures for implementing disciplinary measures, may decide to dismiss the person before the Court's judgment.

Those who are disciplined with compulsory dismissal do not receive severance pay. However, to take care of those who are compulsorily dismissed after a long period of dedication or facing many difficulties in life, enterprises and agencies may consider providing them with a sum of money not exceeding two months' salary (including all allowances and regular subsidies, if any) before they leave. This amount is taken from the allowance for dismissal, which belongs to the wage fund, according to Decree No. 14-CP dated February 1, 1961 issued by the Council of Ministers regarding temporary provisions on the components of the wage fund.

Article 7 of the regulations stipulates that "Those who lack a sense of responsibility or violate labor discipline causing damage to the State's property must compensate for such damage to the public treasury. This compensation aims to make up for the loss of State property, but takes into account the living conditions of workers and officials (the compensation system will be separately prescribed by a government document)."

Therefore, compensation must await specific regulations and guidelines from the Government to be implemented. For those who produce defective goods, substandard products, or construction projects with technical violations, they must compensate according to Circular No. 97-TTg dated September 29, 1962 issued by the Prime Minister.

IV- PROCEDURES FOR IMPLEMENTING DISCIPLINARY MEASURES

When workers and officials commit errors or shortcomings, enterprises and agencies conduct reviews to clarify the extent of the deficiencies. Reviews are conducted outside working hours. After the individual has completed the review, if it is deemed necessary to implement disciplinary measures, they are referred to the Disciplinary Board.

1- Disciplinary Board

a) Organization: The Disciplinary Board is a collective organization tasked with, based on the file and the statements of the enterprise or agency regarding the content of the violation of discipline, and relying on cadre policies and labor policies of the Party and the State, examining and recommending forms of disciplinary action against violators of labor discipline, aiming to ensure democratic and fair implementation of disciplinary measures.

Members of the Disciplinary Board have the right to request the head of the enterprise or agency to provide necessary materials for research and examination of discipline.

Opinion The opinion of the Disciplinary Board is a recommendation and not a decision, but it needs to be respected. Decisions on disciplinary measures without the opinion of the Disciplinary Board are considered invalid.

The composition of the Disciplinary Council includes:

- The director of the enterprise or the head of the agency presides over the meeting.

- A representative of the Trade Union Executive Committee at the grassroots level.

- A representative of workers or officials nominated by workers or officials at the workplace of the violator. (If the violator is a woman or a youth, this representative should be a woman or a youth).

In cases where the head of the agency commits a violation of discipline and the enterprise or agency does not have a deputy head, the superior management body appoints a representative of the agency or suspends the highest-ranking officer of the enterprise or agency with the head who committed the violation to preside over the Disciplinary Board.

The person responsible for organizational and cadre affairs of the unit is invited to attend the Disciplinary Board meeting to assist the head in presenting necessary information.

The head of the enterprise or agency convenes members and organizes meetings of the Disciplinary Board. The violator is invited to attend the Disciplinary Board meeting to present their views on the observations and conclusions of the Disciplinary Board. (If the Disciplinary Board meets multiple times, only the final session should invite the violator to attend).

b) Procedure for work: The Disciplinary Board operates in the following sequence:

- The chairperson opens the meeting, introduces the case of violating discipline, the investigation process, and the file creation, then presents details about the content, severity of the error, and the proposed form of disciplinary action (the person responsible for organizational and cadre affairs of the unit can assist the head in presenting this part).

- Representatives in the Disciplinary Board analyze the error and express their opinions on the form of disciplinary action:

- The Disciplinary Board concludes and recommends a form of discipline (the chairperson compiles the opinions and puts them to a vote).

- Opinion - The violator's feedback.

The minutes of the Disciplinary Board record the opinions and have the signature of the violator. If the Disciplinary Board invites the violator but they are absent without a valid reason, the minutes of the meeting are still considered valid.

2- Decision on Implementation of Disciplinary Measures.

The head of the enterprise or agency, after studying the recommendations of the Disciplinary Board and soliciting the opinions of the Trade Union Executive Committee, issues a disciplinary decision for workers and officials under their jurisdictional management, and proposes opinions on the level of discipline for those managed by higher authorities.

For workers and officials working at administrative agencies and public service organizations, cases of demotion in work grade, reduction in technical rank, transfer to other jobs, or forced termination must be reviewed or decided by a higher-level management authority. This provision applies to agencies that have delegated management authority over cadres and staff, for example:

- An employee at level 5, directly managed by the provincial administrative committee or department, when being disciplined with demotion in work grade or forced termination, the review or decision shall be made by the provincial administrative committee.

- The Ministry X delegates management authority over cadres and staff from level 3 downwards to its bureaus and institutes. Mr. A, a cadre at level 2 in one of the ministry's institutes, when violating labor discipline to the extent requiring demotion in work grade or forced termination, the institute director reports to the minister for review or decision.

For workers and officials directly managed by administrative committees of regions, provinces, centrally-administered cities, and ministries, departments equivalent to ministries, and agencies under the Council of Ministers, decisions on disciplinary actions including demotion in work grade, forced termination, or other forms of discipline against cadres and staff within their direct management scope shall be made by these managing agencies. Specifically, the minister or chairman of the regional, provincial, or centrally-administered city administrative committee issues decisions on disciplinary actions against cadres and staff within their direct management scope.

During the process of researching and reviewing the mistakes of workers and officials to bring them before the disciplinary council, enterprises and agencies should seek opinions from the labor office and the civil administration board of the local administrative committee or higher-level managing agency to ensure that the disciplinary decisions for workers and officials comply with state policies and regulations.

When enterprises and agencies handle complaints and accusations from workers and officials, as well as decide on disciplinary measures, they must obtain the consent of the enterprise or agency trade union executive board. In cases where multiple discussions fail to reach agreement, the decision of the enterprise director or agency head can be temporarily implemented, but both parties must promptly report to their respective higher-level agencies for resolution. Higher-level agencies of both sides have the responsibility to exchange views and resolve the issue promptly so that enterprises and agencies can implement it. If the higher-level agency disagrees with the decision of the enterprise or agency, the enterprise or agency must revoke the decision.

When deciding to enforce disciplinary action against workers and officials, enterprises and agencies must inform the local administrative committee and higher-level managing agency. The local administrative committee or higher-level managing agency may instruct enterprises and agencies to reconsider or revoke the disciplinary decision if they find the discipline inappropriate (without waiting for the aggrieved party to file a complaint). To assist provincial and municipal administrative committees in monitoring the implementation of the labor discipline charter, the administrative committee will assign the labor office to monitor production areas and the civil administration board to monitor administrative and public service areas.

3- Right to appeal.

Article 11 of the charter stipulates "If state workers and officials believe that the disciplinary action taken against them is inappropriate, they have the right to request a higher-level authority with jurisdiction over government affairs and the trade union to review. Authorities receiving appeals must resolve the appeal and respond to the aggrieved party."

Thus, the right to appeal due to inappropriate disciplinary action is a right that no one may infringe upon. After the disciplined person appeals, the competent authority has the responsibility to investigate, study, and quickly resolve the matter; if they find their own or lower-level decisions incorrect, they must firmly correct them promptly without causing harm to the masses or wasting state resources.

4- Review to remove disciplinary action.

Enforcing disciplinary action against offenders is a form of education; therefore, those disciplined must strive to correct their mistakes. Enterprises and agencies, especially those responsible, need to take high responsibility in helping and educating those disciplined; they must avoid prejudice towards those who have made mistakes and trust that, with the enthusiastic education of superiors and the collective, they will progress.

When an offender has repented and corrected their shortcomings, they may be considered for removal of disciplinary action. Reviewing to "remove disciplinary action" means recognizing the offender's repentance and genuine progress, and acknowledging that the offender has completed the disciplinary period. Therefore, the review to "remove disciplinary action" stipulated in Article 12 of the charter does not mean reviewing past disciplinary actions or revoking the disciplinary decision, but only means recognizing that the offender has completed the disciplinary period to prevent prejudice against them and to support their determination to correct mistakes and strive for improvement. The main basis for this review is the correction of mistakes and the genuine progress of the offender.

The time limit for reviewing whether the offender has corrected their mistakes and progressed is one year. This is the time limit for reviewing whether the conditions for removing the effect of disciplinary action have been met or not; the duration from the issuance of the disciplinary decision to the recognition of completion of the disciplinary period depends on the speed of mistake correction and progress of the offender. Additionally, it also depends on the severity of the disciplinary action (reprimand, warning, the time limit for removing the effect of disciplinary action may be shorter than demotion in work grade) or the nature of the mistake, for example: An offender disciplined for non-compliance with job reassignment must undergo a probationary period to confirm genuine progress.

After one year, the head of the enterprise or agency shall discuss with the Trade Union Committee at the grassroots level to assess and conclude on the progress of the individual concerned, deciding to recognize the completion of the disciplinary period. In cases where the disciplined individual has not truly progressed, the head must clearly inform the individual of their observations and conclusions, and assist them with positive methods for improvement; once they demonstrate true progress, they will be reviewed again (subsequent reviews will be proposed by the Trade Union Committee). Those who were forced to leave their jobs are not within the scope for review to revoke the effect of the disciplinary action. However, those who were disciplined and forced to leave their jobs but have shown clear progress over a certain period, confirmed by the local authority where they reside, may request the enterprise or agency to rehire them. For those whose positions were reduced due to disciplinary actions, upon recognition of the completion of the disciplinary period, there is no necessity to return them to their original positions, but rather to arrange suitable work based on their capabilities and requirements.

5\. Decisions on implementing disciplinary measures and decisions on revoking the effect of disciplinary measures shall be filed in the dossier and recorded in the labor book or personal file of workers and officials.

V- IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Adhering to labor discipline is the duty of every worker and official working long-term or temporarily in state enterprises and agencies in both production and administrative sectors.

The provisions stipulated in the regulations and the guidelines provided in this circular apply only to labor discipline. Workers and officials who violate discipline outside of enterprises and agencies shall be examined and dealt with by the authority where the incident occurred. After handling, the enterprise or agency of the individual concerned shall be informed to provide assistance and education. If the individual's mistake significantly affects the reputation of the enterprise or agency, they may also be subject to disciplinary measures under these regulations according to the extent of the impact.

Previous provisions that contradict the labor discipline regulations explained and guided by this joint circular shall not be implemented. Specifically, regarding the payment of wages to state workers and officials during the suspension of work due to prosecution or temporary detention, it will continue to follow Circular No. 18-TT/LB dated October 6, 1959, of the Ministry of Labor and Interior until new regulations are issued.

To ensure effective implementation of the labor discipline regulations, the heads of enterprises and agencies need to disseminate the labor discipline regulations, especially the five labor discipline rules (as guided by this circular), to workers and officials; additionally, establishing and strictly enforcing enterprise and agency internal regulations is very necessary. Ministries, sectors, and levels will base their guidance and monitoring plans for units under their jurisdiction on these regulations and this circular to build and implement internal regulations in a strict manner.

Enterprises and agencies should closely combine efforts to mobilize workers and officials to comply with the labor discipline regulations with the current movement against America and for national salvation, along with the movement to achieve three high points and the campaign to build three things and oppose three others. They should also develop plans to monitor, urge, and rigorously check compliance regularly. During each period, when reviewing production plans and work programs, they should also review the implementation of the labor discipline regulations, draw lessons learned, and report to the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Interior, and the General Confederation of Labor for general dissemination and reporting to the Council of Ministers.

Our labor discipline is self-discipline, so it must be based on the political enlightenment of workers and officials to motivate them to voluntarily comply and supervise compliance. Therefore, it is recommended that trade unions and youth labor organizations at all levels closely cooperate with the authorities at the same level to organize, educate, and guide workers and officials to fully understand and comply with the labor discipline regulations of the state.

During the implementation process, if difficulties or issues arise, ministries, sectors, levels, and mass organizations are requested to promptly reflect them to the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Interior, and the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor for research and resolution.

 Nguyen Huu KhieuUng Van Khiem

(Signed) (Signed)