Question: I was an expat, employed by a company in Ho Chi Minh City.I recently had to take unpaid leave and return to Singapore, after I spent 2 weeks sick in hospital in Vietnam. It was agreed before I left my contract would remain in place and that I could take an undetermined amount of time off, until I recovered. While I was in Singapore - the company I worked for contacted me to say that they had changed their mind and I would no longer have a job. They would also offer me no severance pay. I was almost 4 months into a two years contract which both parties had signed.
I also have email confirmation that my job would remain and I should focus on my health. They wished me a speedy recovery so I could return to work soon. I am looking to take some sort of legal action, so I can at least receive some severance pay. There was no mutual agreement to end my contract (and also no prior warning) so I'm not sure how they can get away with this.
Is this something you can help me with?
Answer:
As per the information provided by you, your employer and you entered into a Labor Contract with the term of 2 years. Currently, the employer wants to terminate the contract before expiration.
Under Vietnam Labour laws, the termination of labour contract before expiration are prescribed in some cases, such as based on an agreement between the employee and the employer to terminate the labor contract; a dismissal of the employee under a disciplinary procedure; a restructure of the company; or based on the right of the employer to terminate the labor contract unilaterally.
The rights of the employee when being terminated labour contract before expiration are depended on each specific case. However, If there are not sufficient grounds or lawful reasons for termination, the termination is considered as an illegal unilateral termination of the labor contract and the Company shall take responsibility for this.
As per your email, we do not have enough information to determine whether the termination is lawful or illegal under the laws.
If you want a more detailed advice, please provide us all related documents (if any) such as:
- The labour contract and appendices;
- Internal Working Regulation which was registed or other internal documents related to absence/ termination of the labour contract;
- Emails/documents between your company and you on approval of your absence
- Decisions/ Documents of the company regarding terminating our contract…
We will provide you a Legal Opinion. Our fee is 300 USD. This fee is exclusive of 10% VAT (30 USD). The total fee (including VAT) is 330 USD.
We will send you our result within 3 working days from the date of payment.
