Unilateral termination of an employment contract occurs when one party to the employment relationship wishes to terminate the relationship without the agreement or consent of the other party, in accordance with the law.
To better understand the procedure for unilateral termination of an employment contract, please refer to the following article.
1 Provisions on the Right of Employees to Unilaterally Terminate the Employment Contract
Under What Circumstances Can an Employee Unilaterally Terminate Their Employment Contract?
According to Clause 1, Article 37 of the 2012 Labor Code, employees working under a definite-term employment contract or a seasonal contract (or a contract for a specific task with a duration of less than 12 months) have the right to unilaterally terminate the contract before its expiration under the following circumstances:
Not assigned to the agreed job or workplace
Not assigned to the agreed job or workplace, or not provided with the working conditions stipulated in the employment contract.
Not paid in full or not paid on time as agreed in the employment contract.
Subjected to abuse, sexual harassment, or forced labor.
Personal or family difficulties that prevent the employee from continuing to perform the contract.
Elected to a full-time position in a people’s elected body or appointed to a position in the state apparatus.
Female employees who are pregnant and must take leave as directed by a competent medical facility.
Illness or accident requiring continuous treatment for 90 days for employees working under a definite-term contract, or for one-fourth of the term of the contract for employees working under a seasonal contract or a contract for a specific task with a duration of less than 12 months, and whose working capacity has not been recovered.
Notice Period for Unilateral Termination of an Employment Contract
Clause 2, Article 37 of the 2012 Labor Code stipulates the following notice periods for unilateral termination of an employment contract:
At least 3 working days for the cases specified in points a, b, c, and g of Clause 1, Article 37 of the 2012 Labor Code.
At least 30 days for a definite-term contract; at least 3 working days for a seasonal contract or a contract for a specific task with a duration of less than 12 months.
For the case specified in point e of Clause 1, Article 37 of the 2012 Labor Code, the notice period shall be as stipulated in Article 156 of the 2012 Labor Code.
Employees working under an indefinite-term contract have the right to unilaterally terminate the contract but must notify the employer at least 45 days in advance, except in the case specified in Article 156 of the 2012 Labor Code.
No severance pay
According to Article 43 of the 2012 Labor Code, the obligations of employees when unilaterally terminating an employment contract include:
No severance pay, and compensation to the employer of half a month’s salary as stipulated in the employment contract.
In case of violation of the notice period, compensation to the employer shall be made in the amount corresponding to the employee’s salary for the number of days of non-compliance.
Reimbursement of training costs to the employer as stipulated in Article 62 of the Labor Code.
2 Procedure for Unilateral Termination of an Employment Contract
To unilaterally terminate an employment contract, you need to submit a notification letter as follows:
SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM
Independence – Freedom – Happiness
——————————–
APPLICATION FOR TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT
To: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
My name is: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Position: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Department: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
I hereby request the Board of Directors to allow me to resign from my position effective from the date …… month …… year ……………………………………………………………………….
Reason: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
I have handed over my work to: ………… Department: ……………………………
The tasks that have been handed over: ……………………………………………………………………………..
I declare that I have handed over my work to the relevant department before leaving the job.
I sincerely hope that the Board of Directors will consider and approve my resignation.
Thank you!
Head of Department
Applicant
3 Cases of Termination of Employment Contracts
Completion of work under the employment contract
According to the 2019 Labor Code (effective from January 01, 2021), the cases of termination of employment contracts include:
Expiration of the employment contract, except as provided in Clause 4, Article 177 of the 2019 Labor Code.
Completion of the work specified in the employment contract.
Mutual agreement between the two parties to terminate the employment contract.
The employee is sentenced to imprisonment without probation or does not fall under the case of being granted freedom according to Clause 5, Article 328 of the Criminal Procedure Code, or is sentenced to death or prohibited from performing the work specified in the employment contract according to a court judgment that has taken legal effect.
The employee, who is a foreigner working in Vietnam, is expelled according to a court judgment or decision of a competent state agency that has taken legal effect.
Death of the employee, or declaration by a court of their loss of civil act capacity, disappearance, or death.
The employer, who is not an individual, ceases operations or is notified by the business registration authority under the provincial People’s Committee of the absence of a legal representative, or an authorized person to perform the rights and obligations of the legal representative.
The employee is disciplined by dismissal.
Unilateral termination of the employment contract by the employee in accordance with Article 35 of the 2019 Labor Code.
Unilateral termination of the employment contract by the employer in accordance with Article 36 of the 2019 Labor Code.
The employer allows the employee to leave the job in accordance with Articles 42 and 43 of the 2019 Labor Code.
Expiration of the work permit for a foreign employee working in Vietnam in accordance with Article 156 of the Labor Code.
Failure to meet the requirements of the probationary period as agreed in the employment contract, or cancellation of the probationary agreement by either party.
4 Responsibilities After Termination of an Employment Contract
After the termination of an employment contract, the parties must settle all entitlements as agreed in the contract or as stipulated by law. Usually, when an employment contract is terminated, the employee will be entitled to a severance package from the employer if they have worked continuously for at least 12 months.
Employees are entitled to severance pay when the enterprise changes its technology, merges, splits, etc.
However, depending on the circumstances of the termination, the employee will be entitled to either severance pay or redundancy pay. In cases such as changes in the enterprise’s technology, economic reasons, or changes in the enterprise (mergers, acquisitions, splits, etc.), the employee will be entitled to redundancy pay.
The amount of redundancy pay is calculated based on the actual working time of the employee for the employer. For each year of work, one month’s salary is paid, but the payment must be at least two months’ salary.
Employees are entitled to severance pay
In other cases of termination of an employment contract, the employee will be entitled to severance pay. The amount of severance pay is also calculated based on the actual working time of the employee for the employer, but for each year of work, only half a month’s salary is paid.
In addition, the employee will be paid all wages, debts, compensation, and allowances within 14 working days from the date of termination of the employment contract, and in special cases, no later than 30 days.
We have provided you with the procedure for unilateral termination of an employment contract. Hopefully, through this article, you can better understand this procedure.
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