In addition to the Labour Contract and the Collective Labour Agreement, Internal Labour Regulations (ILR) are considered the most important documents to detail the contents that enterprises require employees to comply with. However, the reality shows that some enterprises, when drafting the Internal Labour Regulations, have omitted a few important provisions or regulations that are sketchy and not feasible when applied in practice. In the following article, we would like to share some points that businesses need to pay attention to in the process of preparing the Internal Labour Regulations with the hope that the Internal Labour Regulations will be close to the reality of the business but also in accordance with the provisions of the Law, ensuring the practical application.
1. Required Contents
The content of the Internal Labour Regulations must not contravene the relevant legal provisions. The Internal Labour Regulations includes the following main contents:
- Working hours and rest periods;
- Order at the workplace;
- Occupational safety and health;
- Actions against sexual harassment in the workplace;
- Protection of the assets and technological and business secrets and intellectual property of the employer;
- Cases in which reassignment of employees are permitted;
- Violations against labour regulations and disciplinary measures;
- Material responsibility;
- The person having the competence to take disciplinary measures.
The above are the mandatory and basic contents that the Internal Labour Regulations must be regulated, depending on the individual policies of each enterprise, other provisions may be added that are not contrary to the Labour Law.
2. Register for internal labour regulations
Employers must issue an Internal Labour Regulations, whereby:
- If employing 10 or more workers, the Internal Labour Regulations must be in writing and must be registered at the specialized labour agency under the Provincial People’s Committee (“Department of Labour”).
- If employing less than 10 employees, Internal Labour Regulations is not mandatory to issue a written, but the employer must agree on the content of labour discipline and material responsibility in the labour contract.
Before promulgating or amending and supplementing the Internal Labour Regulations, the enterprise must consult with the representative organization of employees at the establishment for the place where there is a representative organization of employees at the establishment.
After being issued, the Internal Labour Regulations must be sent to each employee representative organization at the facility (if any) and notified to all employees, and at the same time post the main content in necessary places at the workplace.
3. Effectiveness of internal labour regulations
The validity of the Internal Labour Regulations will depend on each type of rule as analyzed above, specifically:
- For Internal Labour Regulations that must be registered and approved by the Department of Labour, effective 15 days after approval.
- For Internal Labour Regulations that is not required to be registered (less than 10 employees) and is issued in writing, the validity is determined by the employer in the ILR.
4. Representative organization of employees
Employee representative organization at the enterprise level is an organization established on a voluntary basis by employees at an employer for the purpose of protecting the lawful and legitimate rights and interests of employees in labour relations through collective bargaining or other forms as prescribed by Labour Law.
Representative organization of employees includes:
- Grassroots trade union; and
- Internal employee organizations.
5. Points to note
- Enterprises with branches, units, production and business establishments located in different locations, shall send the registered Internal Labour Regulations to the Department of Labour where the branch, unit, production or business establishment is located.
- Internal Labour Regulations is an important basis for enterprises to determine violations, compensation levels and discipline employees.
- Failure to register the Internal Labour Regulations in accordance with regulations may result in administrative penalties being considered.
