Answer:
- Is it mandatory for an Employer to establish a network of safety and hygiene personnel?
Safety and hygiene personnel is an Employee who directly has good knowledge in labour safety and hygiene techniques; voluntarily and exemplarity complies with labour safety and hygiene regulations and is elected by the other Employees of the group.[1]
Accordingly, the Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene prescribes that each production team in production and business establishments must have at least one concurrent safety and hygiene person during working hours. The Employer will make an establishment decision and promulgate operation regulation after agreed with the Grassroots TUEC, if this Grassroots TUEC has been established.[2] However, according to the Labour Code, organisations representing the employees at the grassroots level, in addition to the Grassroots Trade Union also has the representative organisation of the Employees in the enterprise. Therefore, the Employer should consult the representative organisations of the Employees in the enterprise (if established) in addition to the requirement to agree with the Grassroots TUEC.
In addition, according to the above-mentioned regulations, a production and business establishment hereby is construed as an enterprise, cooperative, household, or other organisation which has production and business activities. [3]As such, the subjects which must establish the network of safety and hygiene personnel are enterprises, cooperatives, households and other production and business entities that have production teams, and it is not mandatory for enterprises operating in the field of service and trade without production activities to establish the network of safety and hygiene personnel.
2. Responsibility allowances for safety and hygiene personnel
Pursuant to the Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene, one of the rights of safety and hygiene personnel is to spend part of his or her working hours under the LC performing the safety a hygiene personnel duty, but he or she will still be paid by the Employer for these hours along with the responsibility allowance. The rate of responsibility allowance will be agreed upon by the Employer and the Grassroots TUEC and be stated in the operation regulations of the network of safety and hygiene personnel.[4] Other than the above-mentioned regulation, the Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene as well as the relevant guiding by-law documents do not contain specific regulations on the rate of responsibility allowance for the safety and hygiene personnel. Therefore, technically, the rate of responsibility allowance will be agreed upon and decided by the Employer and the Grassroots TUEC.
Regarding PIT, the allowance is not subject to PIT under Article 3.2(b) of the Law on PIT and Article 3.2(b) of Decree 65/2013/NĐ-CP of Government do not include the responsibility allowance for safety and hygiene personnel. Therefore, the responsibility allowance for safety and hygiene personnel will be considered an income from salary or wage of the Employee and be the subject to PIT.
Regarding CIT, the salary, wage and allowances payable to the Employees are considered actual expenses connected to the production and business activities of the enterprise.[5] Therefore, the Employer will be entitled to deduct these expenses from its taxable income.[6] However, if the payment is accounted into the production and business expenses in the accounting period by the Employer but it is not paid in reality or there are not payment deeds proving such a payment, the payment will be not deducted from the taxable income.[7]
[1] Article 74.2 of Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene
[2] Article 74.1 of Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene
[3] Article 3.1 of Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene
[4] Article 74.5(b) of Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene
[5] Article 9.1(a) of Law on CIT
[6] Article 9.1(a) of Law on CIT
[7] Article 9.2(i) of Law on CIT
