Vietnam’s employment department proposes adding newly-designated public holiday to Labor Code

On January 7, on behalf of the Politburo, Party General Secretary To Lam signed Resolution No. 80 on the development of Vietnamese culture.

The resolution underscores a decision to select November 24 annually as ‘Vietnam Culture Day,’ a paid public holiday.

The decision aims to enhance people’s access to cultural life, encourage artists and cultural practitioners to be more creative, and promote a civilized and culturally rich lifestyle across society.

A source told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the department had sent a dispatch to the Legal Affairs Department under the Ministry of Home Affairs, proposing adding the new public holiday to the upcoming amendments to the 2019 Labor Code.

“This proposal is aimed at institutionalizing the Politburo’s policy,” the source said.

Ngo Duy Hieu, vice-president of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, told Tuoi Tre that the confederation had shared the information and collected feedback from union members and workers starting Tuesday.

Preliminary results from a survey of more than 95,000 respondents showed that over 95 percent expressed strong satisfaction and high consensus with Resolution No. 80’s decision to recognize November 24 as Vietnam Culture Day, with a paid day off for workers.

The remaining respondents also voiced their support for the new holiday.

“The confederation sees this as an opportunity to organize activities that enhance the cultural and spiritual life of union members and workers who often lack adequate conditions to enjoy cultural and spiritual values, partly due to time constraints,” Hieu said.

He added that the day would be an excellent occasion to organize cultural and sports events, take workers to historical and cultural sites in their localities, or simply allow them to spend time with family members, sharing and honoring traditional Vietnamese family values.

Under Article 112 of the 2019 Labor Code, Vietnamese workers are currently entitled to 11 paid public holidays each year.

These include New Year’s Day (one day), Lunar New Year (five days), the Hung Kings’ Commemoration Day (one day), Reunification Day on April 30 (one day), International Workers’ Day on May 1 (one day), and National Day on September 2 (two days).

With the Politburo’s recent decision, workers would be entitled to one more paid public holiday each year.