Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2024, Publicación: 113ª reunión CIT (2025)

Convenio sobre el trabajo forzoso, 1930 (núm. 29) - Viet Nam (Ratificación : 2007)

Articles 1(1) and 2(1) of the Convention. Freedom of civil servants to terminate their employment contract. The Committee recalls that section 7 of Decree No. 101/2017/ND-CP provides that the civil servants who benefited from State’s funding to cover their training costs shall pay a compensation to the State if they unilaterally terminate their employment contract before completing their committed period of service. In reply to the Committee´s request for information on the application of this provision, the Government indicates that pursuant to sections 11 and 13 of that Decree, local ministries or authorities managing civil servants shall set up a Repayment Review Council whenever a civil servant decides to terminate his or her employment.

Article 2(2)(d). Work imposed under emergency situations. In reply to its comments on the application in practice of section 108 of the Labour Code, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of workers were mobilized to serve the pandemic prevention and control. The Government further indicates that in its view, section 108 of the Labour Code is not contrary to Convention and falls within the scope of the exception provided for in its Article 2 (2)(d).

The Committee recalls that section 108 of the Labour Code provides that an employer can request any employee to work overtime on any day, regardless of the limits established in the labour code, and that the employee cannot refuse such work in the following cases: (i) to execute a mobilisation order for the purpose of national security or national defence in accordance with the law; and (ii) to undertake activities to protect human life or the assets of agencies, organisations or individuals in the prevention of and recovery from natural disasters, fires, dangerous epidemics and emergencies, except in cases that pose a risk to the life or health of workers in accordance with the law on occupational safety and health.

The Committee observes that section 108 of the Labour Code refers to concrete situations of emergency, including those specified in Article 2(2) of the Convention; nevertheless, its wording appears to be broad as it allows the imposition of work in relation to both prevention and recovery in general. Moreover, the purpose of this provision is not only to protect the existence well-being of the population but also to protect the assets of agencies, organisations, or individuals in cases of emergency. On this point, the Committee has stressed that within the meaning of Article 2(2)(d) of the Convention, the concept of emergency implies a sudden, unforeseen happening calling for instant countermeasures. The power to call upon labour should be therefore confined to genuine cases of emergency that would endanger the existence or the well-being of the whole or part of the population. Moreover, the duration and extent of a compulsory service, as well as the purpose for which it is used, should be limited to what is strictly required by the exigencies of the situation. Therefore, the Committee requests the Government to indicate how it is ensured, in practice, that section 108 of the Labour Code is applied within the strict limits indicated above. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide information on any regulation adopted to that effect, as well as information on other instances in which workers have been compelled to work based on that provision.

Article 25. Penal sanctions for coercive labour. In reply to the Committee´s request for information on the application of section 297 of the Penal Code which criminalizes coercive labour, the Government indicates that state agencies have organized training courses on various provisions of the Penal Code, including section 297, and that various tools have been produced for the identification of forced labour. It further indicates that from 2019 to May 2023, no forced labour cases have been handled or tried in accordance with section 297 of the Penal Code. The Committee requests the Government to continue to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement bodies (including the police and the labour inspection) to detect cases of coercive labour undersection 297 of the Penal Code, and provide information on the number of prosecutions carried out and sentences issued on that basis, specifying the sanctions applied. The Committee recalls in this regards that according to Article 25 of the Convention, forced labour shall be punishable with adequate sanctions, that is sanctions that are sufficiently dissuasive.