A reader with the address thuminh4x@xx send an email to the Legal Counseling Office of Lao Dong newspaper and asked: In the summer, the workload at my company was very large, but many employees in the company requested for a long leave for traveling. How should my company handle this case?

Lawyer Pham Thi Hang, YouMe Law Firm replied:

Article 111 of the Labor Code 2012 stipulate for annual leave as follows:

1. Any employee who has been working for an employer for 12 months is entitled to fully-paid annual leave, which is stipulated in his/her employment contract as follows:

a) 12 working days for employees who work in regular working conditions;

b) 14 working days for employees who work in heavy or hazardous working conditions, or who work under exposure to toxic substances; and for employees who work in an area with harsh living conditions, as prescribed in the list issued by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in coordination with the Ministry of Health; and for minor employees and disabled employees.

 c) 16 working days for employees who are subject to extremely heavy or hazardous work or who work under exposure to toxic substances; employees working in an area with extremely harsh living conditions as prescribed in the list issued by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs in coordination with the Ministry of Health.

 2. The employer has the right to regulate the timetable for annual leaves after consultation with the employees and must give prior notice to the employees.

 3. An employee may reach an agreement with the employer on taking annual leave in instalments or combining annual leave over a maximum period of up to 3 years.

 4.  When taking annual leave, should the employee travel by road, rail, water and the travel days, including of the time to go and to return, are more than 02 days, then, from the 3rd day onward will be calculated as additional traveling time, not counted as annual leave days, and this policy shall only be granted once for an annual leave in a year.

Thus, in case many employees apply for long annual leave that may affect the company's operations, the company has the right to determine the annual leave schedule after consulting the employees and notifying them in advance for workers.

Legal advice

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The column is made with the support from YouMe Law Firm.