1. Can a company that is making a loss be allowed to not pay salaries?

Current law has specific regulations on the employer's salary payment obligations. Pursuant to the provisions of Article 90 of the 2019 Labor Code, there are regulations on wages. Accordingly, salary is the amount of money that the employer will be obliged to pay to the employee according to the agreement of the parties to perform work in many different forms. salary by job and salary by title, including salary allowances and other additional payments as prescribed by law. Pursuant to the provisions of Article 18 of the 2019 Labor Code, there are regulations on the obligation to enter into labor contracts, specifically as follows:

– Before accepting employees to work, the employer and employee will have to agree with each other to directly enter into a labor contract;

– In cases where employees are determined to be from 15 years old to under 18 years old according to the provisions of law, the conclusion of a labor contract will require the consent of the legal representative of the employer. that employee;

– For seasonal jobs and certain jobs with a term of less than 12 months according to the law, a group of workers can completely authorize an employee in that group. to enter into a written labor contract with the employer. In this case, the labor contract will be as effective as if it were signed with each employee.

In addition, the law also regulates the salary payment period. Pursuant to the provisions of Article 95 of the 2019 Labor Code, the salary payment period is specifically regulated as follows:

– Employees who are paid hourly or daily or weekly will be paid hourly or daily or weekly, or the employee will be paid in lump sum due to the agreement with the employer. labor, however at least 15 days will have to be paid in one lump sum;

– Employees who receive a monthly salary must be paid monthly or semi-monthly according to the provisions of law;

– For employees who receive a salary based on the product, the salary will be agreed upon with the employer. If the work must be done in many different months, the employee will be given a monthly salary advance in blocks. the amount of work I completed that month.

In addition, based on the provisions of Article 94 of the 2019 Labor Code, there are regulations on salary payment principles. Accordingly, employers are required to pay wages to employees in the following cases:

– The employer will have to pay wages in full and directly, and must pay wages on time according to the agreement recorded in the labor contract signed with the employee. In cases where the employee cannot receive salary directly, the employer will have the obligation to pay salary to the person legally authorized by the employee to actually receive salary;

– The employer must not restrict or interfere with the employee's right to self-determination in the matter of salary spending, the employer must not force the employee to spend his salary on purchases and sales. goods or use of services from the employer or other units designated by the employer;

– The 2019 Labor Code has specific regulations on the responsibilities of the parties during the process of terminating the labor contract, i.e. within 14 working days from the date of termination of the labor contract, The employer and employee will be responsible for paying all amounts related to each party's rights according to the provisions of law. Wages and social insurance, unemployment insurance and health insurance or severance pay and other employee benefits according to the collective labor agreement or labor contract will be given priority for payment. in case enterprises and cooperatives terminate operations or dissolve according to the provisions of law.

Thus, it can be said that a company making a loss still has the obligation to pay wages to its employees. Loss of business is not one of the cases that eliminates the employer's responsibility to pay wages. . In case the employer uses the reason of business losses to refuse to pay the employee's salary, the employee needs to file a complaint with the competent state agency, which is the Department of Labor. war invalids and the society where the company is headquartered to intervene or send a denunciation about this behavior to the labor, war, war, war, and social inspectorate. If it is still not resolved, the employee can completely sue the competent people's court to follow civil proceedings.

2. What should employees do when the company does not pay wages?

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 15 of Decree No. 24/2018/ND-CP of the Government regulating the settlement of complaints and denunciations in the fields of labor, vocational education, and activities of sending Vietnamese workers Nam goes to work abroad under contract, employment, safety, labor hygiene, there are regulations on the authority to resolve complaints in the field of labor and labor safety and hygiene. Accordingly, employees can file a complaint with the competent state agency when they are not paid by the company. In the case of a first-time complaint, the employee will have to submit a complaint to the employer for resolution according to the provisions of law. In cases where the employer does not resolve the issue or does resolve it but the employee still feels that his or her rights have been violated, he or she can submit a second complaint to the Inspectorate of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs. The Chief Inspector of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs where the employer is headquartered will have the authority to resolve second-time complaints regarding labor complaints, including salary issues. . And it can be said that because the employer does not pay wages and does not pay wages to employees, it is one of the acts that violates the law and causes disputes between employees and employers. labor. In addition to the complaint measures according to the above analysis, based on the provisions of Article 187 of the 2019 Labor Code, there are regulations on the authority to resolve disputes, specifically as follows: Labor conciliator, labor union labor arbitration council and people's court. Thus, it can be said that if the employer does not fully pay the salary according to the initial agreement, the employee has the right to resolve it according to the following options:

The first, resolve disputes through labor conciliators. At that time, the employee will submit a request for dispute resolution to the labor conciliator in accordance with the law.

Monday, resolve disputes through the labor arbitration council. In case the employee makes a complaint or goes through a labor conciliator but has not yet reached an agreement with the employer on the salary issue, the employee has the right to submit a request to resolve the dispute. dispute to the labor arbitration council. However, the authority of the arbitration council in labor disputes is only established with the consent of both parties, the employer and the employee.

Tuesday, initiate a dispute at a competent people's court. Employees can completely consider the grounds for filing a lawsuit in court in cases where it is deemed that there are sufficient grounds to believe that the employer's actions directly violate their legal rights. workers' rights, the violated person has the right to sue in court, or in case of a complaint but disagrees with the decision to resolve the first complaint of a competent state agency or the time limit for resolving the complaint has passed. decision but the competent state agency has not resolved the employee's rights, the complainant has the right to sue in court.

3. Penalties for non-payment of salaries by the company:

In case the employer does not pay the employee the full salary, it will be considered a violation of salary regulations. Pursuant to the provisions of Article 17 of Decree No. 12/2022/ND-CP of the Government stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the fields of labor and social insurance, Vietnamese workers working in foreign countries under the contract, there are regulations on penalty levels as follows:

– From 5,000,000 VND to 10,000,000 VND for employers who violate from 01 to 10 employees;

– From 10,000,000 VND to 20,000,000 VND for employers who commit violations from 11 to 50 employees;

– From 20,000,000 VND to 30,000,000 VND for employers who violate from 51 to 100 employees;

– From 30,000,000 VND to 40,000,000 VND for employers who violate from 101 to 300 employees;

– From 40,000,000 VND to 50,000,000 VND for employers who violate 301 or more employees.

Note: According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 6 of Decree No. 12/2022/ND-CP of the Government stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the fields of labor and social insurance, Vietnamese workers go to working abroad under contract, this administrative penalty level is the fine for individual employers, for companies (organizations) the fine will be 2 times higher. Thus, employers who do not pay their employees will be fined with a fine equivalent to the number of violators, specifically as follows:

– For individuals: Fine ranges from 5,000,000 VND to 50,000,000 VND;

– For organizations: Fine ranges from 10,000,000 VND to 100,000,000 VND.

Legal documents used in the article:

– Labor Code 2019;

– Decree No. 12/2022/ND-CP of the Government regulating administrative sanctions in the fields of labor, social insurance, and Vietnamese workers working abroad under contracts;

– Decree No. 24/2018/ND-CP of the Government regulating the settlement of complaints and denunciations in the fields of labor, vocational education, and activities of sending Vietnamese workers to work abroad according to contracts, employment, safety and labor hygiene.