Rights to unilaterally terminate employment contracts

Illustration photo

Question: Phanh Nissin Viet Nam is a 100% wholly foreign-invested company, specializing in producing and assembling motorbike and automobile brakes. The company signed a 36-month contract with a worker. However, the worker has epilepsy and suffered four seizures at work. 

The company has encouraged the worker to quit the job many times due to his serious illness, but the worker refused. Hence, the company wants to unilaterally terminate the employment contract with the worker. 

Could the company be allowed to unilaterally terminate the employment contract?

Answer: The Department of Industrial Relations and Wage under the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs answered that

Under Point 1, Article 38 of the 2012 Labor Code and Article 12 of Decree 05/2015/ND-CP, dated January 12, 2015, the employer is entitled to unilaterally terminate the labor contract in the following cases:

a) The employee regularly fails to complete the works according to the labor contract;

b) The employee suffering from sickness or accidents cannot recover after 12 consecutive months of treatment for labor contracts without fixed term, after 06 months for employees working under fixed-term labor contracts, or over one half of the contract term for employees working under casual labor contract or regular labor contract with term under 12 months

When the employee recovers, he/she may be considered to conclude the new contract.

c) The employer has to reduce the production and vacancies after taking all measures to overcome the consequences from natural disasters, fire or other force majeure;

d) The employee fails to be present at the workplace after the duration prescribed in Article 33 of this Code./.