Fines when businesses work overtime and employees do not agree

Legal Consulting Department of Lao Dong Newspaper answers:

Clause 3, Article 24, Decree 283/2026/ND-CP stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the fields of labor, social insurance, and Vietnamese workers working abroad under contracts (effective from September 10, 2026) stipulates as follows:

3. A fine of between 20 million VND and 25 million VND shall be imposed on employers for one of the following acts:

a) Performing normal working hours exceeding the working hours prescribed by law;

b) Mobilizing employees to work overtime without the employee's consent, except as prescribed in Article 108 of the Labor Code.

Article 108 of the 2019 Labor Code stipulates overtime in special cases as follows:

Employers have the right to request employees to work overtime on any day without being limited by the number of overtime hours as prescribed in Article 107 of this Code and employees are not allowed to refuse in the following cases:

1. Implement orders to mobilize and mobilize to ensure national defense and security tasks in accordance with the law;

2. Performing tasks to protect human life and property of agencies, organizations, and individuals in preventing and overcoming the consequences of natural disasters, fires, dangerous epidemics and disasters, except in cases that may affect the life and health of workers according to the provisions of law on occupational safety and health.

Clause 1, Article 7 of Decree No. 283/2026/ND-CP stipulates the level of fines and principles of application for repeated administrative violations as follows:

1. The penalty level stipulated for administrative violations specified in Chapter II, Chapter III and Chapter IV of this Decree is the penalty level for individuals; except for cases specified in: Article 8; Article 9; Clause 3, Article 10; Clauses 3, 4, 5, 6, Article 19; Clauses 2, 4, Article 36; Clause 1, Article 37; Clauses 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, Article 38; Clause 3, Article 42; Clauses 6, 11, Article 48; Article 49; Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, Article 50; Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Article 52; Clause 4, Article 53 of this Decree is the penalty level for organizations. The penalty level for organizations is 2 times the penalty level for individuals.

Thus, from September 10, 2026, businesses will force employees to work overtime when they do not agree, and will be fined up to 50 million VND.