In the Field of Improving Material and Spiritual Life for Workers

Article 101 of this Code also has provisions on salary deductions, specifically:

1. Employers may only deduct wages from employees to compensate for damages caused by damage to the employer's tools and equipment as prescribed in Article 130 of this Code. 2. Employees have the right to know the reason for the deduction of their wages. 3. The monthly wage deduction level shall not exceed 30% of the employee's monthly wage after deducting compulsory social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, and income tax. [50]

At the same time, Clause 2 and Clause 3, Article 90 also clearly state:

2. Wages paid to employees are based on labor productivity and work quality. 3. Employers must ensure equal wages, without gender discrimination, for employees doing work of equal value.[50]

Regarding the role of trade unions in Article 11, the 2012 Trade Union Law also stipulates the responsibility of trade unions in the issue of wages. Accordingly, the Trade Union: “participates with state agencies in formulating policies and laws on socio-economics, labor, employment, wages, social insurance, etc.”

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In addition, the union is also a member of the National Wage Council - an advisory body to the Government mainly on wage issues (Article 92 of the 2012 Labor Code). The Government only stipulates the framework and some principles on the construction of the wage table, on the basis of which, "the employer is responsible for building the wage scale, wage table, and labor norms as a basis for recruiting and using labor, agreeing on the wage level stated in the labor contract and paying wages to employees." [50, Article 93].

Article 19 of the 2012 Labor Code also stipulates the responsibilities of employers.

is to provide information to employees about wages before signing a labor contract. At the same time, Decree 43/2013/ND-CP dated May 10, 2013 of the Government stipulates the rights and responsibilities of trade unions in participating with employers in developing and supervising the implementation of wage scales, payrolls, labor norms, wage payment regulations, bonus regulations, and labor regulations (Article 5, Decree 43), accordingly:

The grassroots trade union at the employing unit has the following rights and responsibilities: 1. Organize to collect opinions, synthesize opinions of employees, participate in writing with the employer in the development, promulgation, amendment and supplementation of salary scales, payrolls, labor norms, salary payment regulations, bonus regulations, and labor regulations according to the provisions of the law on labor; 2. Organize to supervise the implementation of salary scales, payrolls, labor norms, salary payment regulations, bonus regulations, and labor regulations; make recommendations to the employer on the contents of amendments and supplements to salary scales, payrolls, labor norms, salary payment regulations, bonus regulations, and labor regulations.[29]

The law only stipulates the minimum wage:

On the basis of the principles of building salary scales, payrolls and labor norms prescribed by the Government, employers are responsible for building salary scales, payrolls and labor norms as a basis for recruiting and employing workers, agreeing on salary levels stated in labor contracts and paying wages to employees. When building salary scales, payrolls and labor norms, employers must consult with organizations representing the collective of workers at the facility and publicly announce them at the workplace of employees before implementation, and send them to the management agency.

The district-level labor authority where the employer's production and business establishments are located. [50, Article 93].

In addition to the provisions of specialized laws such as the Labor Code and the Trade Union Law, the Bankruptcy Law 2004 also recognizes the role of trade unions in ensuring working conditions. According to Article 14 of the Bankruptcy Law 2004:

In case an enterprise or cooperative cannot pay wages or other debts to its employees and realizes that the enterprise or cooperative is in a state of bankruptcy, the employees shall appoint a representative or, through a trade union representative, submit a petition to open bankruptcy proceedings. After submitting the petition, the trade union representative shall be considered a creditor .

Thus, the participation of trade unions in ensuring wages for employees is an issue regulated by law to perform the function of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of employees.

However, in reality, when recruiting, the issue of salary is still completely decided by the employer, or the issue of salary is not regularly adjusted by the employer according to the general development level of society. This situation has led to many strikes demanding salary increases by workers... partly because the role of the union in this field is still weak, the law does not have clear regulations on the responsibility of the union in these specific cases.

2.1.5.2. About working hours and rest hours

Working hours are the time when employees are present at the production site, work and perform assigned duties, in accordance with the contents of the Collective Labor Agreement and the labor regulations of the enterprise. Rest time is the time when employees do not have to perform labor obligations. Article 4 of Decree No. 195/CP dated

December 31, 1994 detailing and implementing a number of articles of the 1990 Labor Code on working hours and rest hours:

Employers have the right to regulate working hours by day or by week and weekly days off in accordance with the production and business conditions of the enterprise but not contrary to the provisions of law and must be stated in the labor contract, collective labor agreement as well as the labor regulations of the enterprise. [19]

In lieu of this Decree, the Government issued Decree No. 45/ND-CP dated May 10, 2013 detailing a number of articles of the Labor Code on working hours, rest hours, occupational safety and health.

Normal working hours (Article 104 of the 2012 Labor Code): Normal working hours shall not exceed 08 hours in 01 day and 48 hours in 01 week. Employers have the right to regulate working hours by the hour or day or week; in case of working by the week, normal working hours shall not exceed 10 hours in 01 day, but not exceed 48 hours in 01 week. The State encourages employers to implement a 40-hour work week. Working hours shall not exceed 06 hours in 01 day for those doing particularly heavy, toxic, or dangerous work according to the list issued by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs in coordination with the Ministry of Health.

Overtime is the period of time worked beyond the normal working hours prescribed by law, collective labor agreement or labor regulations. Employers are allowed to use employees for overtime when meeting the following conditions: With the consent of the employee; Ensuring that the number of overtime hours of employees does not exceed 50% of the normal working hours in 01 day, in case of applying the working regulations according to

In the case of a week, the total number of normal working hours and overtime hours must not exceed 12 hours in 01 day; not more than 12 hours in 01 day when working overtime on holidays, Tet and weekly days off; not more than 30 hours in 01 month and the total must not exceed 200 hours in 01 year, except for some cases where overtime is allowed from over 200 hours to 300 hours in 01 year and must be notified in writing to the specialized agency assisting the People's Committee of the province in state management of labor in the locality . [10]

When negotiating and signing the Collective Labor Agreement, the trade union agrees with the employer on working hours and rest hours. Regarding the labor regulations of the enterprise, the trade union has the right to give its opinion on the daily and weekly working hours and rest breaks proposed by the employer. Then, reach an agreement with the employer so that the provisions in the agreement and the labor regulations are in accordance with the law, suitable to the nature of the enterprise and beneficial to the employees.

With the function of protecting the rights of employees, in case the employer requires employees to work overtime and that work affects the employee's health, the Trade Union has the right to express its opinion and reach an agreement with the employer.

2.1.5.3. Social insurance

Social insurance is a guarantee to replace or partially compensate employees' income when they have reduced or lost income due to illness, maternity, work accidents, occupational diseases, unemployment, retirement age or death, based on contributions to the social insurance fund [59, Article 3].

Social insurance plays an important role in stabilizing the lives of employees when facing risks, and is a way to share difficulties among employees when participating in insurance.

For that reason, the State always encourages the development of social development forms for workers. Article 8 of the 1990 Trade Union Law stipulates:

Trade unions participate in developing social policies and participate with state agencies in managing social insurance according to the provisions of law. The Government promulgates social insurance regulations, establishes social organizations to closely coordinate with trade unions in developing social insurance laws and policies, and submits them to competent authorities for promulgation and implementation of social insurance policies for employees . When amending the 2012 Trade Union Law, Article 11, Clause 1 continues to stipulate that "trade unions are responsible for participating with state agencies in developing policies and laws on social insurance [49].

At the workshop “Corporate responsibilities to employees and to the community” , organized by the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and a number of domestic and foreign organizations on May 22, 2012, researchers pointed out a reality, which is that many enterprises in Vietnam avoid their social responsibilities. Many enterprises seek to avoid or delay paying insurance for employees by dishonestly declaring the number of employees they employ. In reality, there is a delay in paying insurance for employees in many enterprises. According to statistics from Vietnam Social Security, in just the first two months of 2012, the debt of social insurance and health insurance reached 8,063.8 billion VND, of which the debt of social insurance was 6,207.6 billion VND, concentrated in non-state enterprises and enterprises with foreign investment capital; the debt of health insurance was 1,856.2 billion VND. In Hanoi alone, by the end of February 2012, there were over 600 billion VND in insurance debts, concentrated in most of the units in the fields of transportation, textiles, basic construction... Many foreign enterprises with famous names have outstanding debts of up to billions of VND. Faced with this situation, Hanoi Social Insurance has to use many measures to collect debts, even filing lawsuits.

to court. However, after the court's verdict, some enterprises did not comply with the court's decision, forcing the enforcement agency to enforce by coordinating with banks to deduct debt payment from the enterprise's account. However, this solution is not always effective because many enterprises have found ways to cope, mainly by withdrawing all the money in the account. Not wanting to fulfill their insurance obligations, many enterprises find ways to pay insurance for employees based on the lowest possible salary. According to research results, enterprises only pay insurance for employees on about 15% to 40% of their total income. Thus, about 60-85% of employees' total income is not included in the social insurance contribution structure and in terms of economic benefits, this is the main loss of revenue for the social insurance fund at present. Therefore, according to many experts, the debt of more than 8,000 billion VND in insurance money in the first 2 months of 2012 is only the debt calculated on the total salary that enterprises "self-declared" as the basis for paying insurance, very different from the real figure. [85]

According to researchers, the above situation stems from the low sense of responsibility of enterprises. Another reason is that the legal regulations are still inadequate, creating conditions for enterprises to violate the law. Specifically, according to the regulations, enterprises employing 10 or more workers must participate in unemployment insurance. Many business owners have circumvented the law by falsely declaring the number of workers they employ, trying to give a number of less than 10 workers to avoid having to fulfill their obligations; signing seasonal labor contracts or contracts for work with a term below the prescribed level of insurance payment. In many places, employees and employers also enter into so-called "verbal contracts" .

Enterprises and employers deliberately avoid paying social insurance for personal gain. This motive promotes illegal actions, especially in the context of sanctions against violations of social insurance responsibilities for employees that are not strong enough, strict enough, and sufficient to force enterprises to comply. In reality, state management in the field of social insurance

This is still limited. In general, the authorities have not closely managed the workforce and their actual income, leading to enterprises and employers evading their responsibility to pay insurance or not paying fully. To thoroughly resolve this issue, in addition to calling for the enthusiastic participation of trade unions to fully demonstrate their supervisory role, the law also needs to have clear and strict regulations for enterprises in cases of intentional violation of state regulations on employee insurance, and the Labor Federation also needs to have regulations and forms of handling with the grassroots trade union when violations occur.

2.1.6. In the field of improving the material and spiritual life of workers

Heads of agencies, units, organizations, and business owners need to closely coordinate and discuss with trade unions on compliance with labor laws and policies, and care for and improve the material and spiritual lives of workers" (Article 7, Decree No. 133/HDBT dated April 20, 1991 of the Council of Ministers on guidelines for the implementation of the Trade Union Law). More specifically, Clause 2, Article 8 of the 1990 Trade Union Law stipulates: "Trade unions are responsible, together with relevant agencies, units, and organizations, for taking care of cultural life, physical education and sports activities, and organizing rest and tourism for workers.[49]

The 2012 Labor Code and the 2012 Trade Union Law do not specifically regulate this issue, but in some legal documents guiding the implementation of the Labor Code and the Trade Union Law, there are some regulations on the role of trade union organizations related to the material and spiritual life of employees, specifically: Article 5, Decree 43/2013/ND-CP of the Government detailing the implementation of Article 10 of the Trade Union Law in representing and protecting the legitimate and legal rights and interests of employees stipulates that trade unions have the rights and responsibilities:

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