- Is it mandatory for enterprises to establish the network of safety and hygiene personnel?
Safety and hygiene personnel are Employees who have good knowledge in labour safety and hygiene techniques; are voluntary to comply with safety and hygiene regulations in an exemplary manner and are elected by other Employees in the team[1].
Accordingly, the 2015 Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene prescribes that each production team in production and business establishments must have at least one concurrent safety and hygiene person during working hours. The Employer will make the decision to establish the network of safety and hygiene personnel and issue its operational regulations after consulting the Grassroots TUEC if this Board has been established or the immediate superior trade union if the grassroots trade union has not been established[2]. In the regulation above, a production and business establishment is construed as an enterprise, cooperative, household or other organisations which have production and business activities[3]. As such, the subjects which must establish the network of safety and hygiene personnel are enterprises, cooperatives, households and other organisations which have production and business activities structured in the form of production teams, and it is not mandatory for enterprises operating in the field of service and trading without production activities to establish the network of safety and hygiene personnel.
2. Responsibility allowances for safety and hygiene personnel
Pursuant to the Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene, safety and hygiene personnel have the right, among other rights, to spend part of their working hours performing the safety and hygiene personnel’s duties, but they will still be paid for these hours along with responsibility allowances. The rate of responsibility allowance will be agreed by the Employer and the Grassroots TUEC and be stated in the operational regulations of the network of safety and hygiene personnel[4]. Other than the regulation above, the Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene as well as the relevant guiding documents do not contain specific regulations on the responsibility allowance for safety and hygiene personnel. Therefore, technically, the rate of res allowance will be agreed and decided by the Employer and the Grassroots TUEC.
Regarding PIT, the allowances not subject to PIT which are provided for in Article 3.2(b) of the Law on PIT and Article 3.2(b) of Decree 65/2013/NĐ-CP do not include the responsibility allowance for safety and hygiene personnel. Therefore, the responsibility allowances for safety and hygiene personnel will be considered an income of salary or wage and be subject to PIT.
Regarding
CIT, the salary, wage and other allowances payable to Employees are considered
actual expenses connected to production and business activities of the
enterprise[5],
thus these expenses can be deducted from the taxable income[6].
However, when these payments are accounted into the production and business
expenses in the accounting period but they are not paid in reality or there are
not source documents proving these payments, these expenses will not be
deducted from the taxable income[7].
[1]Article 74.2 Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene
[2]Article 74.1 Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene
[3]Article 3.1 Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene
[4]Article 74.5 (b) Law on Labour Safety and Hygiene
[5]Article 9.1(a) Law on CIT
[6]Article 9.1(a) Law on CIT
[7]Article 9.1 (i) Law on CIT