Photo: Illustrative image (Source: Internet)

The decree prescribes principles, contents and forms of exercising democracy at the grassroots level in the workplace for enterprises, organisations, cooperatives, households and individuals employing workers with labour contracts (hereafter employers).

Those subject to the decree include employees as defined in Clause 1, Article 3 of the Labour Code; enterprises, organisations, cooperatives, households and individuals employing workers under labour contracts; organisations representing employee collectives at grassroots level in line with Clause 4, Article 3 of the Labor Code; and other agencies, organisations and individuals involved in the implementation of grassroots democracy regulations in the workplace as stipulated in this decree.                                                 

The decree shall not apply to State administrative agencies and public non-business units hiring or using workers under labour contracts.

The decree states that employers must publicise the performance of tasks, production and business; internal rules, regulations and other documents of the enterprise regarding obligations, legitimate rights and interests of employees; collective labour agreements at the enterprise, collective labour agreements of the sector and other collective labour agreements joined by the enterprise; the resolutions of employee conferences; the deduction for the establishment and use of rewards and welfare funds and other funds contributed by workers (if any); the deduction of wage for payment of trade union fee, social, health and unemployment insurance; emulation, commendation and discipline; the settlement of complaints and denunciations regarding the legitimate rights and interests of employees.

Employees are allowed to give opinions on the building, amendments and supplements to internal rules, regulations and other documents concerning their obligations, rights and interests; revision to wage scales, payrolls and labour norms; to propose contents for collective negotiations; to propose and implement measures to cut costs, enhance labour productivity, improve working conditions, protect the environment, prevent and fight fires and explosions; and give opinions on other contents regarding rights and interests of employees as prescribed by the law.

Employees are entitled to decide the signing, amendments, supplements and termination of labour contracts; join or not to join organisations representing labour collectives at the grassroots level; join or not to join strikes; vote on the contents of collective negotiations in line with the law and Employee Conference resolutions; and other contents as prescribed by law.

Employees are allowed to check and supervise the implementation of labour contracts and collective labour agreements, the implementation of labour rules, regulations and other documents of enterprises concerning employees’ rights and legitimate interests, and the use of reward and social welfare funds, and those contributed by them. They can also supervise the deduction of wage to pay trade union fees, social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance contribution by employers; the implementation of emulation, rewards, and discipline as well as the settlement of denunciations and complaints related to their rights and legitimate interests, and the implementation of Employee Conference resolutions.

The decree stipulates several forms of democracy, including dialogue in the workplace and employee conferences. Dialogue in the workplace is implemented through direct talks between employees and employers or between representatives of employee collectives and the employers. The dialogue is held regularly or when one party requires. The dialogue content, the number of participants in the dialogue, the date and time, as well as the process of the dialogue should adhere to the enterprise’s regulations on grassroots democracy in the workplace. If the time to organise the regular dialogue coincides with that of the employee conference as stipulated in Article 9 of this decree, the enterprise does not have to hold the dialogue. The employee conference is jointly held at least once a year by the employer and the organisation representing the employee collective at the grassroots level, in the form of plenary conference or delegate conference. The content of the conference is stipulated in Article 64 of the Labour Code, while its organisation form, time, place, process, the number of participants, the responsibility for organisation and the form of communication to popularise the conference’s outcomes must follow the enterprise’s regulations on grassroots democracy in the workplace.

The decree also regulates other forms of exercising democracy, such as internal information system, suggestion box, petitions, denunciations and complaints in accordance with the law, and other forms regulated by enterprises in their regulations on grassroots democracy in the workplace.

Employers are responsible for issuing grassroots democracy regulations in the workplace to ensure the implementation of the decree. The grassroots democracy regulations in the workplace must be put up to collect ideas from the organisation representing the employee collective at the grassroots level and be publicised to employees before put into use.

The decree will become effective on January 1, 2019./.