English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

A Gendered and Rights-Based Review of Vietnamese Legal Documents through the Lens of CEDAW
Fourth, during pregnancy, maternity leave or raising a child aged under 12 months, a
female employee is entitled to postponement of unilateral termination of her labour contract or
to extension of the period of consideration for labour discipline, except when the enterprise
ceases its operation. 501
Although not gender-specific, in addition to administrative penalties imposed on
violation of provisions of the Labour Code, Article 128 of the Penal Code provides that those
who, for their own benefits or other personal motivation, illegally force labourers or public
employees to leave their jobs, causing serious consequences, will be subject to warning, noncustodial
reform for up to one year, or a prison term of between three months and one year.
Indicator 77
Does legislation provide for an equal retirement age
Retirement age is governed by the Labour Code and the Law on Social Insurance. In both
laws, a differential age of retirement for men and women is provided.
Labour Code
Article 15 of the Labour Code states that an employee, 60 years of age in the case of a
male and 55 years of age in the case of a female, having paid social insurance contributions
for a period of 20 years or more is entitled to pension benefits. 502 It provides that male
employees who are 60 years of age and who have paid social insurance contributions for 30
years, and female employees who are 55 years of age and who have paid social insurance
contributions for 25 years, be entitled to the same maximum rate of monthly pension.
A lower rate of pension is provided where: (a) an employee, 60 years of age in the case
of a male, and 55 years of age in the case of a female, have paid social insurance
contributions for a period of 15 years to below 20 years; (ii) a male employee who is at least
50 years of age, or a female employee who is at least 45 years of age, with an accumulated
social insurance contribution of at least 20 years, and is reduced in his or her capacity to work
by 61 percent or more; and (a) an employee who has worked in an extremely heavy or harmful
job as stipulated by the Government and is reduced in his or her capacity to work by 61
percent or more. 503
Law on Social Insurance
The Law on Social Insurance elaborates further on the retirement pension under the
compulsory social insurance retirement regime. Article 50 of the law provides that specified
persons - that is, (a) persons working under contracts of indefinite term or contracts of a term
of full three months or longer, (b) cadres, officials, public servants, (c) defense workers, police
workers, and (d) persons working overseas for a definite term who previously paid compulsory
social insurance premiums - are entitled to a retirement pension if they have paid social
insurance premiums for twenty years or more and they are: (a) aged 60 years for men and
aged 55 years for women; or (b) aged between 55-60 years for men or between 50-55 years
231
501
Ibid., Article 111
502
The retirement age of an employee who has worked in heavy or toxic jobs, or in mountainous regions, in border regions
or on offshore islands, and in a number of other special cases, will be determined by the Government
503
Labour Code, Article 145(2)
Employment (Article 11 of CEDAW)