Answer:
- May representative offices of foreign traders in Vietnam recruit Vietnamese Employees by themselves? If they are not allowed to do this, which State agencies must they contact? Must representative offices of foreign traders pay recruitment fees to those State agencies?
As prescribed by the commercial law[1],
representative offices of foreign traders in Vietnam (“ROs”) are allowed to recruit Vietnamese Employees by themselves but
have to work with competent organisations recruiting and managing Vietnamese Employees
to recruit Vietnamese Employees to work for foreign organisations and
individuals. Accordingly, recruitment, recommendation and management of the Vietnamese
Employees who work for the ROs will be done by organisations which are
authorised by the DOLISA. For instance, in Ho Chi Minh City, the organisation
that is authorised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is Ho Chi Minh City
Employment Service Center.
2.If these State agencies cannot recruit qualified Employees, may representative offices recruit the Employees by themselves? How long does it take for State agencies to recruit qualified Employees? If representative offices are allowed to recruit the Employees, must they periodically report this issue to those State agencies?
Although the recruitment of Vietnamese Employees to work at ROs is not necessarily to be carried out through an organisation assigned or authorised by the DOLISA, thr ROs recruiting under this form must comply with the following procedure[2]:
- Step 1: Being in need of Vietnamese Employees, a RO must send a written request for recruiting the Vietnamese Employees to the competent organisation in recruiting and managing Vietnamese Employees. In the written request, the RO must specify the positions, quantity, qualifications, professional duties, foreign languages, and the time limit of recruitment; the rights, benefits and obligations of the Vietnamese Employees and the RO during the employment and upon the termination of each position;
- Step 2A: Within 15 working days from the date of receipt of the written request, the competent organisation is responsible for recruiting and recommending Vietnamese Employees at the request of the RO;
- Step 2B: Upon the expiry of this time limit, if the competent organisation cannot recruit and recommend Vietnamese Employees to the RO, the competent organisation must issue an official letter giving reason to the RO; and
- Step 3: Within 07 working days from the signing date of the LC with Vietnamese Employees, the RO must send a written notice to the competent organisation in recruiting and managing Vietnamese Employees attached with the following document:
- A certified copy of the LC signed with the Vietnamese Employee, if the LC is in a foreign language, it must be accompanied by a Vietnamese translation;
- A certified copy of the Employee’s birth certificate, ID card; and
- Certified copies of diplomas or certificates of professional, technical, and foreign language qualifications related to the job for which the Employee has applied for the job. If the documents are foreign, they must be consular legalised, unless exempted under international treaties to which Vietnam and such foreign country are members or on the principle of reciprocity or according to regulations of the Law; those documents must be translated into Vietnamese and certified in accordance with Vietnamese laws.
As such, ROs may recruit Vietnamese Employees by themselves provided that they have to comply with certain regulatory requirements.
Besides, by 15 December per annum or unexpectedly upon request, ROs must also report the situation of the recruitment and the employment of Vietnamese Employees to the organisations competent to recruit and manage Vietnamese Employees according to Form 02/PLII issued together with Decree 152/2020/ND-CP of the Government[3]. The closing time for the annual report is calculated from 15 December of the year before the reporting period to 14 December the year of the reporting period. Therefore, whether ROs directly recruit or through an organisation assigned or authorised by the DOLISA, ROs must periodically report on the recruitment and employment of Vietnamese workers to the organisation assigned by the DOLISA or authority.
[1] Articles 17.3 of the Commercial Law and Articles 2.3. (dd), 22.1 (b) and 22.3 (a) of Decree No. 152/2020/ND-CP of the Government dated 30/12/2020
[2] Article 6 Decree 75/2014/NĐ-CP dated 28/7/2014.
[3]Article 26 Decree No. 152/2020/ND-CP of the Government dated 30/12/2020
