The process of revising the Labor Code will bring about significant changes, with two very important changes.

Recently, Mr. Tim De Meyer, Senior Advisor on International Policy and Standards of the International Labor Organization(ILO), spoke with the local media about the common views on the revision of the Labor Code.

The revision process will bring about significant changes

According to De Meyer, Vietnam's Labor Code is a comprehensive legal document which stipulates content such as labor contracts, the ability of employees to negotiate with employers, minimum standards on working conditions, ensuring occupational safety and health, and others.

The process of revising the Labor Code will bring about significant changes, with two very important changes.

The first important change is that, at the grassroots level, workers can now set up their own representative organizations and participate in the collective bargaining process that can help workers enjoy a fair division of the profits they contribute to create, and on the other hand helps businesses ensure that they can negotiate to improve productivity.

The second major change is the expansion of the scope of the Labor Code. This means that more workers will benefit from the protection of the Labor Code.

Closer to international labor standards

De Meyer said that the most significant progress in becoming closer to the International Labor Standards is the right of employers and employees to establish their own organizations.

That is, they are allowed to establish organizations representing themselves to participate in substantive negotiations on working conditions. This is significant because it helps employers as well as workers adjust to changes in the labor market and to negotiate the level of flexibility needed to maintain sustainability over time.

De Meyer also found that the progress made in the employment relationship has been included in the Labor Code. The recognized employment relationship is a tool to protect employees working at the request of the employer, which will make it easier for employees to request protection within the framework of the Labor Code.

Therefore, he said he hoped that this can bring Vietnam closer to international standards, such as in the matter of minimum wages, which will ensure that more workers will enjoy a minimum wage to feed their family.

Promote equality

The amended Labor Code can bring Vietnam closer to international standards

Discussing the specific contents of the Labor Code that can be further improved, De Meyer said that these are issues related to promoting equality. “We can see that today inequality increases everywhere in the world, especially income and opportunity inequality."

“Vietnam is an aging society, so one of the issues is to increase productivity, to improve skill levels to make the best use of the potential of labor productivity of each worker. That means we need more women who are able to use their potential in the labor market and be rewarded. But this also means that many protective clauses in the Labor Code need to be revised.”

Specifically, maternity allowances need to be strengthened, as well as access to domestic help services at reasonable prices, protection against sexual harassment and opening up more opportunities for women in occupations and economic activity that did not previously allow women to participate in for protection purposes.

"Therefore, I think this is an area where the Labor Code can continue to make more progress," he said.

Tran Hang