Continue to accompany workers
On September 20, Mr. Nguyen Trung Ngan - Head of the Legal Policy Department of the Ba Ria - Vung Tau Provincial Federation of Labor said that he is continuing to support Mr. Luu Chi Hieu (born in 1973) in the dispute case of claiming compensation for damages due to a work accident (TNLD) with BOT Phu My 3 Power Company Limited (abbreviated as BOT PM3 Company).
According to Mr. Ngan, when a dispute arose between the parties, Mr. Hieu asked the union to assist. After studying the case file, the Provincial Federation of Labor assigned people to accompany and support Mr. Hieu's family to resolve the dispute, not only in court but also in other agencies and units.
For example, after supporting Mr. Hieu at the first instance trial of the labor contract dispute in October 2023 with good results, the provincial trade union continued to accompany and support him in working with the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs on the case of a work accident. After that, it continued to participate in protecting Mr. Hieu's legitimate rights and interests at the appeal trial of the labor contract dispute that took place in August 2024; at the same time, it worked with Mr. Hieu with the employer to request compensation for damages caused by the work accident.
The two sides could not reach an agreement, so the union supported Mr. Hieu in filing a lawsuit for compensation for damages caused by the work accident at the People's Court of Phu My town. "Recently, the People's Court of Phu My town opened the first instance trial, but the defendant did not attend and requested a postponement. Therefore, the Trial Council postponed the trial, scheduled to reopen on September 30," Mr. Ngan informed.
One work accident, two disputes occurred
Mr. Ngan and Mr. Luu Chi Hieu have two main disputes with BOT PM3 company, including a dispute over labor contract and a dispute over compensation for damages caused by labor accidents; these were separated into two separate cases for trial.
According to the records, on June 3, 2021, Mr. Luu Chi Hieu suffered a stroke while working. However, in June 2022, BOT PM3 Company unilaterally terminated the labor contract with Mr. Hieu. Believing that the termination of the labor contract was not in accordance with regulations, Mr. Hieu filed a lawsuit requesting the cancellation of the decision to terminate the labor contract; compensation for damages; and arrangement of a suitable job. Through two levels of first-instance and appeal trials, the verdicts ordered the enterprise to compensate the employee a total of nearly 1.25 billion VND.
The first instance trial panel for labor contract disputes stated: “Based on the fact that Mr. Hieu is a worker of the company performing his duties; based on Clause 8, Article 3 of the Law on Labor Safety and Hygiene and the professional guidance document of the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labor, War invalids and Social Affairs, it is concluded that Mr. Hieu is a case of a work-related accident. Thus, there is sufficient basis to determine that Mr. Luu Chi Hieu suffered a stroke while on duty on June 3, 2021 for Phu My 3 BOT Power Company Limited, which is a case of a work-related accident.”
Accordingly, the court suspended the request for compensation for the work accident, so that Mr. Luu Chi Hieu has time to negotiate with the employer. In case the parties cannot reach an agreement on compensation, Mr. Hieu has the right to file a lawsuit in another case. However, because he could not reach an agreement with BOT PM3 Company, Mr. Hieu filed a lawsuit for compensation for the damage caused by the work accident with the support of the trade union.
In this case, Mr. Luu Chi Hieu requested the People's Court of Phu My town to consider and force BOT PM3 Company to pay for medical expenses of more than 222 million VND; compensate for occupational accident benefits of nearly 1.1 billion VND; pay interest of more than 166.5 million VND; and support 10 months of salary as committed to employees working at the company of nearly 412 million VND.
The total amount of compensation requested is more than 1.9 billion VND and requires BOT PM3 Company to prepare sufficient documents to send to the Social Insurance agency so that Mr. Hieu can enjoy occupational accident insurance benefits.
