English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

A Gendered and Rights-Based Review of Vietnamese Legal Documents through the Lens of CEDAW
There should be a clear legal stipulation that, when availing themselves of the
maternity regime, females labourers will not suffer from any loss of benefits or
seniority.
Article 17(3) of the Law on Gender Equality provides that poor women residing in
remote and mountainous area and being from an ethnic minority, excluding those who pay
compulsory social insurance, when giving birth to a child, must be supported by the
Government. This provision is broad enough to cover both workers and non-workers, who are
not subject to compulsory social insurance. More details are necessary to operationalize this
provision.
Recommendation: More details are needed to operationalize Article 17(3) of the
Law on Gender Equality. It is also recommended that a maternity regime under the
voluntary social insurance scheme be also added to ensure that those not workers not
covered under the compulsory social insurance scheme can also enjoy maternity
benefits.
Indicator 80
Does legislation provide for support services to enable parents to
combine family obligations with work responsibilities, including
ensuring childcare facilities by the employer or the State
Article 109 of the Labour Code has several provisions on combining family and work
responsibilities. In many cases, though, they are in the form of protective legislation, or focus
only on women combining work and family life and not on shared responsibilities between men
and women.
Most provisions relating to family and work have already been discussed:
Articles 17, 39 and 111 of the Labour Code on termination of employment (see
Indicators 74-76);
Articles 22 and 24 of the Labour Code on leave (See Indicators 74-76);
Article 109 of the Labour Code on working regimes for women and its supplementing
documents (See Indicators 74-76);
Article 110 of the Labour Code on preferential treatment and reduction of taxes for
enterprises that employ a high proportion of women employees and its
supplementing legal documents, in particular Circular on Women Labour and
Circular on Female Labourers relating to expenses on crèches and kindergartens
(See Indicator 72);
Article 110 of the Labour Code and Article 14(4) of the Law on Gender Equality on
training (see Indicators 74-76);
Article 112 of the Labour Code on transfer to lighter duties when work assignment of
pregnant employee will adversely affect the health of the foetus (see Indicators 74-
76);
Article 113(1) of the Labour Code on jobs that are hard, dangerous, involving contact
with toxic substances that adversely affects women’s ability to bear children and its
supplementing documents (see Indicator 72);
237
Employment (Article 11 of CEDAW)