Within the framework of the online dialogue, exchange program, policy communication, and dissemination of new points on labor law, social insurance, and trade union activities in 2025, workers ask: " Can businesses unilaterally transfer workers to other jobs than signed contracts? If so, how long and under what conditions? ".
Lawyer Nguyen Van Ha - Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Bar Federation, Deputy Head of the Hanoi Bar Association said that regarding whether a business has the right to unilaterally transfer employees to work in other jobs than the signed labor contract, and if so, what are the conditions and deadlines, the law has stipulated very specifically in Article 29 of the Labor Code.
Regarding the conditions for transferring employees, according to Article 29, enterprises are only allowed to transfer employees to work in other jobs than contracts in cases of real necessity.
Enterprises face difficulties due to natural disasters, fires, dangerous epidemics; or need to apply preventive measures to prevent and overcome work-related accidents and occupational diseases; Or other force majeure incidents affecting production and business activities. That is, businesses cannot arbitrarily want to transfer at any time, but must have an objective and legitimate basis according to the law.
Transfer period:
- The time spent transferring to another job must not exceed 60 working days accumulated in 1 year.
- If the enterprise needs to transfer for more than 60 days, there must be written consent of the employee.
In other words, in case of force majeure, the enterprise has the right to temporarily transfer but the maximum limit is 60 days/year; exceeding this mark must be approved by the employee.
Regarding the obligation to notify: If the labor regulations have specific regulations on cases of transfer due to production and business needs, when implementing the transfer, the enterprise must notify the employee at least 3 working days in advance. When workers are transferred to another job, they will be paid according to the new job.
For example: Labor contracts stipulate a salary of 5 million VND/month. If temporarily transferred to a new job with a salary of 6 - 7 - 8 million VND/month, the employee will receive a salary according to the new job, not a salary according to the original contract.
