Vietnam bans overseas employment in massage jobs under amended law

More than 95 percent of lawmakers present voted in favor of the amended law on Monday at the first extraordinary session of Vietnam’s 16th National Assembly.

Under the previous 2020 law, the prohibition applied specifically to massage jobs at restaurants, hotels, and entertainment centers.

The revised legislation expands the ban to massage work in general.

The law also prohibits workers from taking jobs abroad, and organizations from recruiting, preparing, or sending workers overseas, if the employment threatens national security, public order and safety, social ethics, or the health of workers and communities, or is not permitted by the destination country.

Similar restrictions apply to employment in areas affected by armed conflict or destinations that Vietnamese authorities have advised people not to visit or to limit travel to.

Priority for skilled workers

Under the newly adopted law, priority will be given to sending trained and technically qualified workers abroad under contract, with the aim of improving their incomes, skills, foreign-language proficiency, workplace discipline, and exposure to modern technologies and management practices.

Employment information connections between returning workers and the domestic labor market will be strengthened in order to make effective use of skilled human resources who have worked abroad.

Vietnamese workers going abroad under contract in certain sectors, occupations, or jobs requiring professional and technical qualifications, or in fields prioritized by the State for development, will be entitled to special mechanisms and policies for overseas employment.

Returning workers will also be attracted and effectively utilized in accordance with socioeconomic conditions in each period, under regulations issued by the government.

Tighter licensing and fee rules

The law also tightens licensing requirements for companies providing overseas employment services.

Service providers must meet requirements on qualified professional staff as prescribed by the government.

A company whose license has been revoked cannot obtain a new one for five years from the date of revocation. The same five-year restriction applies to the company's legal representative.

The revised legislation further regulates the preparation of workers before labor supply contracts are signed, including vocational and foreign-language training fees.

The law also adds several provisions on preparing workers for overseas employment, including preparations before labor supply contracts are signed and rules on fees for training, vocational skills development, foreign-language courses, and other charges.

Service companies may collect fees for training, vocational skills development, and foreign-language courses only after workers have been selected by the overseas employer and have signed contracts to work abroad.

The law also strengthens coordination between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security in managing Vietnamese workers overseas and tackling violations linked to illegal migration, human trafficking, forced labor, fraud, and unlawful fee collection.