Question:
From August 1, 2024, to August 31, 2024, I was late to work for 2 days and was fined by the company a total of VND 1,000,000 (equivalent to VND 500,000 per day). Does the company have the legal right to impose monetary fines on employees?
Answer:
According to Article 127 of the 2019 Labor Code, the law stipulates as follows:
“Article 127. Prohibited acts in labor disciplinary measures
- Infringing upon the health, honor, life, reputation, and dignity of employees.
- Imposing monetary fines or wage cuts as a substitute for labor disciplinary measures.
- Disciplining employees for violations that are not stipulated in the company’s internal labor regulations, the labor contract, or labor law.”
Based on the above provisions, employers are not permitted to impose fines or wage cuts in lieu of labor disciplinary measures.
If an employer violates this regulation, they may be subject to penalties as outlined in Clause 3, Article 19 of Decree No. 12/2022/ND-CP:
“Article 19. Violations of labor discipline and material responsibility
3. A fine ranging from VND 20,000,000 to VND 40,000,000 shall be imposed on the employer for any of the following acts:
…
b) Using monetary fines or wage cuts as a substitute for labor disciplinary measures;
…”
According to the above regulations, fining employees is one of the prohibited acts.
