What should employees do when the company does not pay salaries (2024)

Please tell me how to deal with a company that does not pay employees when they quit their job? 

(Ms. Dung, a worker in Saigon asked a question to ANT Legal)

“I signed a labor contract with Company F…. the company owes me 6 months’ salary and there is no sign of paying me, what should I do now?”

ANT Legal would like to pay The answer is as follows:

Enterprises are responsible for paying salaries directly, fully and on time

According to Article 96 of the 2012 Labor Code, the principles of salary payment are prescribed as follows:

“Employees are paid directly, fully and on time.

In special cases where salary cannot be paid on time, it must not be delayed more than 01 month and the employer must pay the employee an additional amount of money at least equal to the deposit interest rate announced by the State Bank of Vietnam at the time of salary payment.”

Thus, if the employee’s salary is delayed for more than 1 month, the employer must be responsible for paying the employee’s full salary and the corresponding interest on the amount of late payment to the employee.

Penalties when businesses owe employees salaries

Companies that commit violations in paying salaries to employees will be punished according to Article 13 of Decree 95/2013/ND-CP: Regulations on sanctions for administrative violations in the fields of labor, social insurance, and sending Vietnamese employees to work abroad under contracts:

Fine the employer for one of the following acts:

– Not paying wages on time according to the provisions of Article 96 of the Labor Code.

– Paying a salary lower than the level specified in the salary scale and salary table sent to the district-level state labor management agency.

– Paying overtime and night work to employees is lower than the rate specified in Article 97 of the Labor Code.

– Deducting employees’ wages contrary to the provisions of Article 101 of the Labor Code.

– Insufficient payment of termination wages to employees according to the provisions of Article 98 of the Labor Code.

What to do when the company owes wages?

When salaries are not paid or are not paid in full or on time, employees should take the following steps according to the correct order and procedures to request a competent state authority to resolve and reclaim their legitimate rights:

– Request the Company’s Board of Directors to resolve salaries. If the two sides can find common ground and the company agrees to resolve employee benefits, this is the optimal, fastest and least expensive way.

– If the company intentionally does not pay wages, the employee can complain to the Chief Inspector of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. Pursuant to Article 15 of Decree 24/2018/ND-CP, complaints to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs will only be received after the first complaint has been made to the employer but is not resolved or disagrees with the resolution decision.

Time limit for processing: 07 working days from the date of receipt of the complaint under jurisdiction.

Resolution time limit: No more than 45 days (complicated cases no more than 60 days), from the date of acceptance; In remote and remote areas with difficult access, the time limit for resolving complaints is no more than 60 days (complicated cases no more than 90 days), from the date of acceptance.

If the second complaint is not resolved on time or does not agree with the settlement decision, the employee has the right to initiate a lawsuit in court according to administrative proceedings (according to point b, clause 2, Article 10 of Decree 24).

When the company owes salary, what should the employee do?

Employees can request a conciliator to resolve the issue. Resolution:

According to Clause 1, Article 190 of the 2019 Labor Code, the statute of limitations for requesting a settlement by the Labor Mediator is 06 months from the date of discovering that your legal rights and interests have been violated.

Resolution time limit: 05 working days from the date the Labor Mediator receives the request to resolve the dispute from the employee (pursuant to Article 188 of the 2019 Labor Code).

At the conciliation meeting, the employee must be present or authorize another person to participate. Here, the parties will agree on a solution plan. In case an agreement cannot be reached, the employee can consider the plan proposed by the Labor Mediator.

In case the conciliation fails or succeeds but the employer does not perform or the settlement deadline expires, the employee can request the Labor Arbitration Council or the Court to resolve.

Resolved by the Labor Arbitration Council:

According to Article 189 of the 2019 Labor Code, this method is carried out after going through the mediation step through the Labor Mediator. At the same time, disputes can only be resolved by the Labor Arbitration Council when both parties agree to choose.

Statute of limitations: 09 months from the date of discovery of violated legal rights and interests.

When requesting the Labor Arbitration Council to resolve a dispute, the parties must not simultaneously request the Court to resolve the dispute.

Resolution time limit: 30 days from the date the Labor Arbitration Board was established.

The decision of the Labor Arbitration Board on dispute resolution will be sent to the parties. In case one party does not implement this decision, the other party has the right to request the Court to resolve.

 Initiating a lawsuit at Court

According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 188 of the 2019 Labor Code, salary disputes must go through conciliation procedures by a Labor Mediator, then be sued in Court.

Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 190 of the 2019 Labor Code, the statute of limitations for requesting the Court to resolve a dispute is 01 year from the date of discovering that one’s legitimate rights and interests have been violated.

The employee submits a lawsuit to the District People’s Court where the enterprise is headquartered and carries out civil proceedings according to the Court’s instructions.