Official letter No. 2844/LDTBXH-PC dated August 25th, 2021of the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs regarding guidelines for some issues in implementation of policies

With regard to employees who do not agree to work under to the "3 on-site" plan, the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs assumes that enterprises and employees may agree to settle according to any of the following options:

(i) Enterprises agree to allow their employees to take work stoppage;

(ii) To suspend employment contracts according to point h clause 1 Article 30 of the Labor Code or take unpaid leave according to clause 3 Article 115 of the Labor Code;

(iii) To reach agreement on termination of employment contracts according to clause 3 Article 34 of the Labor Code or enterprises unilaterally terminate employment contracts according to point c clause 1 Article 36 of the Labor Code.

Notably, when applying any of the aforesaid options, employees may be entitled to the state’s financial support policies amid the Covid-19 pandemic under Decision No. 23/2021/QD-TTg . However, support rates are different on a case-by-case basis. In addition, other policies on salary, benefits are also different (for example, “work stoppage” shall be paid suspension salary according to clause 3 Article 99 of the Labor Code; suspension of an employment contract or unpaid leave shall not be paid).

With regard to enterprises that have to suspend because they fail to meet the “3 on-site" requirements or locate in areas under lockdown, quarantine, etc. the Ministry of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs assumes that this case may be understood in the manner that they have to ease operation at the request of competent authorities for COVID-19 prevention and control so that their employees are entitled to the financial support polices according to Article 13 of Decision No. 23/2021/QD-TTg .

With regard to the regulation "employees are subject to quarantine or in a locked down area as requested by the authorities" for considering the entitlement to the financial support policies according to Decision No. 23/2021/QD-TTg , it means that the employees' working places and/or residences are in areas put under lockdown as requested by the authorities or under social distancing according to 16/CT-TTg .

According to opinions of the Ministry of Labor -Invalids and Social Affairs, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the understanding and application of policies in each locality need to be implemented creatively, flexibly and simply so as to maximally support enterprises and employees in difficulty due to the pandemic.