English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

A Gendered and Rights-Based Review of Vietnamese Legal Documents through the Lens of CEDAW
is also a good measure. However, its application should be limited to areas where de facto
inequality exists. As such, it is suggested that it be applied to jobs, industries, or positions that
are dominated by one sex or traditionally perceived as appropriate for a certain sex only. The
proportion of one sex should not be less than 30 percent of workers.
Recommendation: It is recommended that Article 111 of the Labour Code applies
to jobs, industries or positions that are male-dominated - that is, areas where de facto
inequality exists - rather than to all jobs, industries and positions. Likewise, in jobs,
industries or positions that are female-dominated, measures preferring males should
also be considered.
In relation to Article 13(3)(a) of the Law on Gender Equality, it is suggested that
there be explicit stipulation that such measures be applied only to jobs, industries or
positions that are dominated by one sex. In such cases, plans must be in place to ensure
that the proportion of one sex reaches 30 percent of workers. In this regard, ensuring an
equivalent proportion of women in training centres should be in place as well.
It has been suggested that the entitlements accorded to women may sometimes act as
a disincentive to hiring and promoting women. Hence, Articles 138 and 110 of the Labour Code
provide particular incentives to encourage the employment of women. Article 138 states: “An
employer which employs less than ten (10) employees must still provide its employees with
the basic rights and benefits stipulated in this Code but shall be considered for a reduction of
or exemption from a number of criteria and procedures stipulated by the Government.” To
encourage employment of women and provision of their basic entitlements, Article 110
provides: “The State shall establish policies on preferential treatment and reduction of taxes
for enterprises which employ a high number of female employees.”
Article 110 is further elaborated on. First, Article 5 of the Decree on Women Labourers
states that enterprises are considered as having a high proportion of women in their work force
where they regularly employ: (a) from 10 to 100 women labourers and have women labourers
accounting for 50 percent or more of their total regular workforce;and (b) over 100 women
labourers and have women labourers accounting for 30 percent or more of their regular
workforce. 472 Further, such enterprises are entitled to preferential policies as per Article 6: (a)
in case of special difficulty, they are allowed to take low-interest loans from the National Fund
for Employment; (b) in case of financial difficulty that makes it impossible for the enterprise to
move its female labourers from banned jobs to permitted jobs, they are allowed to set up a
project to request a single budget assistance from the National Fund for Employment; and (c)
they are given priority in using part of their total annual investment to cover the improvement
of the working conditions for female labourers. Finally, such enterprises are eligible for
consideration for tax reduction, as per Article 7, as follows: (a) the profit taxes will be reduced,
but the reduction will not be lower than the extra expenses incurred by the high employment
of women, which is calculable; (b) the money yielded by the reduction of tax will be managed
and used by them to cater to female labourers; and (c) where they have a high proportion of
female labourers and they are not profitable, the extra expenses due to the high employment
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Decree on Women Labourers, Article 5
Employment (Article 11 of CEDAW)