Answer:
Pursuant to labour law, the lowest salary of a job or title requiring traineeship (including enterprise-trained Employees) must be at least 7% higher than the area minimum wage as regulated by the Government[1]. In particular, the Employees who have undergone vocational training or education include[2]:
- Persons who have been granted a vocational certificate, vocational diploma, professional secondary school diploma, vocational secondary school diploma, college diploma, pre-university certificate, university degree, bachelor’s degree, postgraduate degree or master’s degree, doctorate prescribed in Decree 90-CP dated 24 November 1993 by the Government defining the framework of the national education system, the system of diplomas and certificates of education and training;
- Persons who have been granted graduation diplomas of professional secondary school, vocational training, college, university, master’s degree, doctorate; diplomas and certificates of professional education; higher education diplomas and diplomas and certificates of regular education pursuant to the Education Law;
- Persons who have been granted certificates under regular vocational training programs, primary vocational certificate, intermediate vocational training diploma, vocational college diploma or have completed vocational training program under the vocational training contract stipulated by the Law on Vocational Training;
- Persons who have been granted national vocational skill certificates in accordance with the Employment Law; who have been granted diplomas and certificates for primary, secondary and college vocational education/training qualifications; regular training and other vocational training programs in accordance with the Law on Vocational Education;
- Persons who have been awarded graduation diplomas of higher education in accordance with the Law on Higher Education;
- Persons who have been granted diplomas and certificates of foreign training institutions; and
- Persons who have been trained by the enterprise or self-taught and inspected by the enterprise and arranged by the enterprise to perform work requiring vocational training.
As such, the Employer and the Employee must sign a vocational training contract[3]. In addition, it should be noted that any Employer’s job guidance for the Employee during the probation period is characterised as indicative of a particular job for the Employee to familiarise himself or herself with the job, comply with the proper procedures and specifications of the job at the Employer’s request to ensure consistency, efficiency and working principles of the business. In fact, even after the probation period, the Employer still has to guide the Employee when necessary. Therefore, any probation will not be considered a form of vocational training by an enterprise for the Employee in accordance with the law.
On the other hand, the current law has not yet covered any specific regulations on the sectors, occupations and jobs that require the use of trained Employees. Therefore, in principle, the Employer, when recruiting the Employee who has undergone vocational training, must always ensure that the lowest salary for the Employee is at least 7% higher than the area minimum wages regulated by the Government, regardless of whatever position or job the Employee is recruited for.
However, it can be seen that the recruitment of an Employee who has been trained to do simple jobs without requiring qualification will be totally unreasonable from an economic point of view because the costs for the use of trained Employees, including salary and wages, will be higher than those of Employees without vocational training. Therefore, before recruitment, the enterprise often evaluates and determines the intended positions and jobs to decide to whether or not employ the Employees who have vocational training. Accordingly, recruiting information in the enterprise usually states the requirements on the level of Employees (intermediate level, college or university) as a required condition for applying for. Where it is necessary to recruit the Employees who have undergone vocational training to work for intended positions and jobs, the Employer will pay the Employee the lowest salary that is at least 7% but must higher than the area minimum wage set forth by the Government.
[1]Article 5.1 (b) of Decree 90/2019/NĐ-CP dated 15/11/2019
[2]Article 5.1 of Decree 90/2019/NĐ-CP dated 15/11/2019
[3]Article 61.3 of the Labour Code
