Available remedies

The employer may consider:

· terminating the violating employee’s labor contract by way of dismissal; and

· requesting the violating employee to compensate for damages.

Dismissal

Under the Labor Code 2012, an employer is permitted to apply dismissal as a form of dealing with breach of labor discipline where the employee is guilty of conduct (a) causing serious loss and damage, or (b) which threatens to cause particularly serious loss and damage to property or interests of the employer.

An employee, who breaches the Government’s “Covid-19” regulations such as making inaccurate mandatory medical declaration or avoiding applicable quarantine requirements and is later on tested positive for Covid-19 (the violating employee) may cause material disruption and damages to the employer.

Employees being quarantined at Government facilities

Vietnamese authorities require:

• all persons who have been in direct and close contact with a confirmed Covid-19 patient (commonly referred in Vietnam as F1 Suspects) to be put into mandatory quarantined at Government facilities; and

• all persons who have been in direct and close contact with a F1 Suspect to be self-quarantine at home (commonly referred in Vietnam as F2 Suspects).

The standard quarantine period is 14 days.

For F1 Suspect, there following options may be available:

For any employee who is tested being positive for Covid-19 and is known to the employer, the employer is entitled to require the employee to take sick leave in accordance with the Social Insurance Law 2014. That said, this may not be necessary, since the Government requires all Covid-19 confirmed patients to be put into mandatory quarantine and treatment in a hospital.

Under the labor law, the employer is generally required to (1) maintain conditions of safety and hygiene for the workplace, and (2) provide its employees with labor protection equipment. In particular, during the period of “social distancing” from 1 April to 15 April 2020, the Prime Minister has instructed all employers who are permitted to work from their offices during this period (Essential Business Employers) to adopt the following measures:

• wearing face masks and providing sufficient equipment and facilities for prevention and fighting against the coronavirus as required by regulatory regulations and recommended by medical authorities. For example, according to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) advice, an employer should conduct regular cleaning of workplace and equipment and provide employees with adequate protection facilities (mask, antiseptics);

• requiring employees to conduct medical declarations and refraining from going outside, contacting others, and communicating with others;

• avoiding temporarily non-emergency and unnecessary activities and reducing gathering of employees in limited space; and

• organising and managing transport to carry employees to and from their workplaces (if any) in order to avoid the spread of Covid-19.