Conditions for recruiting or employing teenage workers

Question: What are conditions for recruiting and employing those between full 13-15 years of age?  

Answer: Under Circular 09, employers are only allowed to recruit and employ people of full 13 to under 15 years of age to do light jobs which meet the following conditions: 

(i) Being in the list of light jobs for people of full 13 to less than 15 years of age in accordance with Appendix II of Circular 09/2020 such as performing artists; athletes; software writers; traditional occupations such as making ceramic glaze dots, sawing clamshells, making poonah-paper, making conical hats, etc. (excluding the use of toxic chemicals); raising cattle on farms; thread cutting, button inserting, packing handmade textile products into boxes.

(ii) Not allowed to work in places such as underwater, underground, caves, tunnels; construction sites; cattle slaughter establishments; casinos, bars, dance halls, karaoke rooms, hotels, hostels, saunas, massage facilities; lottery business points, video game services; In addition, Circular 09/2020 is also attached with a list of 69 jobs that harm the physical, mental and personality development of minors; the list includes sixworkplaces that harm the physical, mental and personality development of minors; the list includes 21 occupations in which people of full 15 to under 18 years of age may work overtime; the list includes two occupations in which people of full 15 to under 18 years of age may work at night.

Circular 09 stipulates that, recruiting or employing people under the age of 13 is prohibited, except for jobs related to arts, physical training and sports without harming the development of physical and mental health, and personality of people under 13 years of age.

The recruitment is required to obtain the consent of the Department of The Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the locality where the head office is located or where there is the address specified in the certificate of registration of enterprise, cooperative, cooperative union, or the investment registration certificate, the document of approval of the investment policy, or the decision on establishing an agency, organization, or cooperation contract of a cooperative group, with respect to the employer which is an enterprise, agency, organization or cooperative./.