Female workers make up a large proportion of the labour force, particularly in industries such as textiles, trade, footwear, handicrafts and food processing. The law needs specific provisions for female workers to ensure gender equality. Their right to work and right to equality needs to be protected, as does their right to be a labourer and a mother if they so choose. The provisions for female workers are defined in Chapter X of the Labour Code 2012 and Government Decree No. 85/2015/ND-CP.

As stipulated in Article 153 of the Labour Code 2012 and Article 5 of the Decree 85/2015, the State guarantees equal employment rights for women. The State encourages employers to enable female workers to be employed regularly and to widely apply flexible work arrangements, part-time work, assign work at home and to take improve their working conditions. Female workers are also supported to enhance their capacity, health care and well-being in order to promote labour efficiency and a balance between work and family.

Tax legislation dictates that businesses with a high number of female employees will have their enterprise income tax reduced. Additional expenses for female workers are included in deductible expenses when determining taxable income under the provisions of the Ministry of Finance. The State also takes measures to provide preschools and kindergartens at workplaces with many female workers.

As stipulated in Article 154 of the Labour Code 2012 and Article 4 of Decree 85/2015 / ND-CP, employers employing female workers are obliged to:

- Ensure the right to gender equality and employ measures to promote gender equality in recruitment, employment, training, working time, rest time, salary and other benefits.    

Employers are responsible for equality between female and male workers in recruitment, employment, training, salary, bonuses, promotions, social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, working conditions, occupational safety, working time, rest time and other welfare;

- Consult female workers or their representatives before deciding issues relating to their rights and interests and provide enough appropriate bathrooms and toilets in the workplace;

- Help organise or build nurseries/kindergartens or provide female workers with a part of the costs of childcare. Subject to their own situation, employers draw up plans to organise or build nurseries/kindergartens or support part of the costs of childcare for female workers with children at the age of child care or pre-school in cash or in kind. The level and duration of support by employers is dealt with between employers and female workers’ representative.

Under the provisions of the Labour Code and implementation guidelines, employers must not require female workers to work at night, overtime or go on a business trip in the event of: being seven months pregnant or more, or raising children under 12 months old.

From the seventh month of pregnancy, female workers doing heavy work will be transferred to lighter work or have their working hours reduced by one hour per day and still receive full pay. Employers must not dismiss or unilaterally terminate the labour contracts of a female worker if she is married, pregnant, on maternity leave or raising children under 12 months of age unless the employer dies or is declared bereft of civil capacity, missing or dead by a court or the employer terminates operations. Female workers are exempt from labour discipline during pregnancy, maternity leave or when raising a child under 12 months of age.

Female workers are entitled to a break every 30 minutes a day for at least three days a month during menstruation, and 60 minutes of working time a day for breast-feeding, milking, milk storage and rest when raising children under 12 months of age. They still get full pay under their contract.

After six months of maternity leave, if they wish, female workers can take more leave without pay with the agreement of the employer. However, Clause 4 of Article 157 of the Labour Code in 2012 stipulates: "before the expiry of maternity leave, subject to demand, female workers can return to work with the agreement of employers after at least four months of maternity leave if a medical facility certifies that early work will not be harmful to their health. In this case, in addition to wages for the days worked paid by the employer, female workers still continue to be entitled to maternity benefits under the Social Insurance Law."

Currently, legal regulations on female workers protection in Vietnam are rather extensive.  However, to make these policies effectively come into life, employers should be responsible for obeying labour regulations to ensure rights for female workers and make recommendations to the Government to adjust inappropriate regulations. Female workers should also be aware of the importance of understanding labour regulations to contribute to developing enterprises and to protecting their rights as well. Trade unions should have knowledge of gender and labour regulations to disseminate to female workers to raise their awareness of their rights.

International Cooperation Department