Employees have the obligation to respect and comply with signed labor contracts and general labor law regulations.

This article was consulted by Lawyer Nguyen Quang Trung

Legal grounds:

• Labor Code 2019.

We receive the following questions:

I wanted to ask if an employee quits his job suddenly, without notice, without an application, and without handover, will he have to compensate the company?

In principle, both businesses and employees have the obligation to respect and comply with the signed labor contract, as well as comply with the provisions of labor law.

1. Can employees who are currently working be allowed to quit without notice?

Pursuant to Article 35 of the 2019 Labor Code as follows:

Article 35. Right to unilaterally terminate the employee’s labor contract

1. The employee has the right to unilaterally terminate the labor contract but must notify the employer in advance as follows:
   • a) At least 45 days if working under an indefinite-term labor contract;
   • b) At least 30 days if working under a fixed-term labor contract with a term from 12 months to 36 months;
   • c) At least 03 working days if working under a fixed-term labor contract with a term of less than 12 months;
   • d) For some specific industries, professions and jobs, the notice period is implemented according to the Government’s regulations.
2. Employees have the right to unilaterally terminate the labor contract without prior notice in the following cases:
   • a) Not being arranged according to the correct job, working location or not guaranteed working conditions as agreed, except for the cases specified in Article 29 of this Code;
   • b) Not being paid in full or not paid on time, except for the cases specified in Clause 4, Article 97 of this Code;
   • c) Being mistreated, beaten, or subjected to humiliating words or actions by the employer, or acts that affect health, dignity, or honor; forced labor;
   • d) Being sexually harassed at work;
   • d) Pregnant female employees must leave work as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 138 of this Code;
   • e) Full retirement age as prescribed in Article 169 of this Code, unless the parties agree otherwise;
   • g) The employer provides dishonest information as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 16 of this Code, affecting the implementation of the labor contract.

According to the above regulations:

Employees have the right to unilaterally terminate the labor contract without reason but must notify the company a certain period of time in advance depending on the type of labor contract being performed.

Employees are only allowed to quit immediately without prior notice in some special cases mentioned above. However, it should be noted that in these cases, the employee still needs to notify the unilateral termination of the contract to avoid violating labor discipline.

2. If an employee quits his job illegally, must he/she compensate the company?

Pursuant to Article 39 of the 2019 Labor Code as follows:

Article 39. Unilateral illegal termination of labor contracts

Unilateral illegal termination of a labor contract is a case of termination of a labor contract not in accordance with the provisions of Articles 35, 36 and 37 of this Code.

According to the above regulations, if the employee unilaterally terminates the contract without complying with Article 35 above, it is considered illegal unilateral termination of the labor contract.

Therefore, it is illegal for an employee to quit his job without prior notice to the enterprise without falling into the special cases specified in Clause 2, Article 35 of the 2019 Labor Code.

Pursuant to Article 40 of the 2019 Labor Code as follows:

Article 40. Obligations of employees when illegally unilaterally terminating the labor contract

1. No severance pay.
2. Must compensate the employer for half a month’s salary according to the labor contract and an amount corresponding to the salary according to the labor contract for days without prior notice.
3. Must reimburse the employer for training costs specified in Article 62 of this Code.

According to the above regulations, if the employee unilaterally terminates the labor contract illegally, he or she will not be entitled to severance pay, and must pay the enterprise the following amounts:

• Compensation for half a month’s salary;
• Pay an additional amount corresponding to salary on days without prior notice;
• Refund training costs to businesses in cases where employees are trained to improve their qualifications, vocational skills, or retrain at the company’s expense.