Answer:
1. LC with the housekeeper
Under the Labour Code, the Employer can negotiate with the Employee to apply for a full or part-time working regime. In addition, the part-time working regime is defined as the working regime in which the Employee has fewer working hours than the normal working hours per day or week specified in the Labour Code (the normal working hours of the Employee will not exceed 08 hours per day and 48 hours per week)[1].
The Labour Code also provides that an Employee who works under a part-time regime will enjoy the same benefits as a full-time Employee[2]. Thus, the type of LC applying the part-time working regime that an Employer and a housekeeper enter into will be regulated as full-time LC. Furthermore, according to Article 20 of the Labour Code, a LC between an Employer and an Employee can only be concluded under one of the two following categories:
- Indefinite-term LC; and
- Definite-term LC, with a term not exceeding 36 months.
If the Employer signs the above-mentioned LC, the Employer should note the following two issues:
- For definite-term LC, the parties are only provided 01 more time to enter into the same type LC when the previous one has expired, then, if the Employee continues to work, the parties must enter into an indefinite-term LC[3]; and
- If the Employer is an individual hiring a housekeeper to perform household chores such as domestic work, housekeeping, babysitting, nursing, elder caring, driving, gardening and other household work having no relation to commerce, the term of the LC will be agreed upon by the parties. To put it differently, for an Employee who is a domestic worker, the term of the LC can be 01 year, 02 years, 03 years or even 04 years. In addition, the contracting parties can unilaterally terminate the LC at any time as long as there is at least 15-days notice to the other party[4].
2. Compulsory insurance regimes for a part-time Employee
Under the Law on Social Insurance, when an Employee works under a LC with a term from a full 01 month to less than 03 months, that LC whether its term is fixed or not is subject to compulsory social insurance[5]. Thus, an Employer who enters into a LC with a part-time housekeeper will be subject to compulsory social insurance and must pay compulsory social insurance for that housekeeper.
[1] Article 32.1 of the Labour Code
[2] Article 32.3 of the Labour Code
[3] Article 20.2 of the Labour Code
[4] Articles 161.1 and 162.2 of the Labour Code
[5] Articles 2.1 of Law on Social insurance
