Tiếng Việt
Dear Valued Clients,
Workplace healthcare for employees is no longer a voluntary welfare policy but has become a mandatory legal obligation of employers. Depending on the industry and the scale of workforce utilization, an enterprise may be required to appoint healthcare personnel, employ physicians at the workplace, or establish a healthcare facility (“Medical Unit”) in accordance with the laws governing medical examination and treatment. In practice, many enterprises continue to approach this obligation merely as a formality, such as engaging a physician under a collaborator agreement, assigning healthcare personnel who lack occupational health qualifications, or operating an “in-house clinic” without the required operating license. These practices may expose enterprises to administrative sanctions in both the labor and healthcare sectors, and may also give rise to significant legal risks in the event of occupational accidents or occupational diseases. This article outlines the key legal requirements and common compliance risks, enabling enterprises to proactively manage compliance and mitigate legal exposure.
- When is an enterprise legally required to establish an on-site Medical Unit?
Pursuant to Article 73.1 of the Law on Occupational Safety and Health 2015 (“OSH Law”), depending on the scale of operations, nature of work, risk of occupational accidents and occupational diseases, as well as working conditions, employers are required to appoint personnel responsible for healthcare services or establish a medical unit responsible for the healthcare and health management of employees.
Specifically, Article 37 of Government Decree No. 39/2016/ND-CP dated 15 May 2016 detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the OSH Law (“Decree 39”) classifies such obligations into the following two groups of industries and occupations:
| Workforce Size | High-Risk Industries and Occupations[1] | Other Industries and Sectors |
| Up to 300 employees | At least one occupational health worker holding an intermediate-level qualification | At least one occupational health worker holding an intermediate-level qualification |
| From 300 to under 500 employees | At least one medical doctor or assistant doctor and one occupational health worker holding an intermediate-level qualification | |
| From 500 to under 1,000 employees | At least one medical doctor, and each working shift must have one occupational health worker holding an intermediate-level qualification | At least one assistant doctor and one occupational health worker holding an intermediate-level qualification |
| 1,000 employees or more | Must establish a medical facility in an organizational form in accordance with the laws on medical examination and treatment | At least one medical doctor and one other occupational health worker |
2. Legal requirements applicable to medical doctors and medical units within enterprises
Enterprises must ensure that Medical Doctors, Occupational Health Workers, and Medical Units satisfy the following legal requirements:
- Professional qualification and certification requirements
Pursuant to Article 73.4 of the OSH and Clause 3, Article 37 of Decree 39, an Occupational Health Worker at an enterprise must satisfy all of the following requirements:
- Holding a medical professional qualification, including: Medical Doctor, Preventive Medicine Doctor, Bachelor of Nursing, Assistant Doctor, Intermediate Nurse, or Midwife.
- Holding a Certificate of Occupational Health Professional Competency in accordance with Circular No. 29/2021/TT-BYT dated 24 December 2021 of the Ministry of Health on occupational health professional training activities (the initial training program for issuance of such certificate must comprise at least 40 hours, while refresher training must account for at least 50% of the duration of the initial training program).
- Medical examination and treatment practice requirements
Pursuant to Article 19.1 of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment 2023 (“MET Law”), an individual is permitted to engage in medical examination and treatment practice in Vietnam only upon satisfying all prescribed conditions, including: (i) Holding a valid Practice Licence; and (ii) Registering his or her practice.
In addition, Article 36.1 of the MET Law permits practitioners to register for practice at multiple medical examination and treatment establishments, provided that their practice hours do not overlap among such establishments. This is a particularly important consideration for enterprises intending to engage part-time Medical Doctors or Occupational Health Workers, as any overlap between working hours at the enterprise and registered practice hours at a hospital would constitute a violation by the practitioner concerned.
- Limitations on the scope of professional practice
Pursuant to Article 19.2(b) of the MET Law, healthcare personnel working within the medical units of agencies, organisations, or enterprises that have not established a Medical Examination and Treatment Establishment are only permitted to provide medical examination and treatment services within their authorised scope of practice and after completing the professional training programme prescribed by the Minister of Health.
Establishing a licensed Medical Examination and Treatment Establishment is mandatory where an enterprise intends to provide full medical examination and treatment services. In such case, the enterprise must establish a Medical Examination and Treatment Establishment in one of the organisational forms prescribed under Article 39 of Decree No. 96/2023/ND-CP dated 30 December 2023[2] and obtain an Operation Licence.
- Rights and obligations of the parties
a) Rights and obligations of occupational health workers and medical units at establishments
Occupational health workers and medical units shall advise and assist the employer in, and directly carry out, the management of employees’ health, principally including the following[3]: - Developing plans and means for first aid and emergency care, essential medicines, and scenarios for occupational accident emergencies, and organizing training on first aid and emergency care for Employees at the establishment;
- Developing plans for and organizing health examinations, examinations for the detection of Occupational Diseases, medical assessments to determine the level of reduction in working capacity in cases of Occupational Accidents or Occupational Diseases, recuperation and occupational rehabilitation, and providing advice on measures to prevent and control Occupational Diseases; proposing and arranging job positions appropriate to Employees’ health conditions;
- Organizing ordinary medical examination and treatment at the establishment, and providing first aid and emergency care to victims in the event of an occupational accident or a technical incident causing a threat to occupational safety and health, in accordance with applicable regulations;
- Disseminating information on occupational hygiene, prevention and control of occupational diseases, and health promotion in the workplace; inspecting compliance with hygiene rules, organizing disease prevention and control, and ensuring food safety and hygiene for employees at the establishment; and organizing on-the-job training in accordance with applicable regulations;
- Preparing and managing information on occupational hygiene and work at the workplace; organizing workplace environment monitoring to assess harmful factors; and managing employees’ health records and the health records of persons suffering from occupational diseases, if any;
- Phối Coordinating with the occupational safety and health unit to perform related tasks prescribed in Clause 2, Article 72 of the OSH Law.
Occupational health workers and medical units shall have the following rights[4]:
- Requesting the person in charge of the production unit to order the suspension of work, or deciding to temporarily suspend work in emergency cases upon detecting signs of violations or risks adversely affecting employees’ health or causing illness or sickness, and simultaneously reporting such situation to the employer; managing medical equipment and medicines for first aid and emergency care at the workplace; and providing guidance on first aid and emergency care to employees at the establishment;
- Suspending the use of substances that fail to comply with occupational safety and health requirements;
- Being allocated time by the Employer to participate in meetings, conferences, and dealings with local health authorities or ministerial/sectoral health authorities in order to improve professional competence and coordinate occupational health work.
b) Rights and obligations of the enterprise
Pursuant to Clause 4 and Point b, Clause 5 of Article 37.4, and Article 37.5.b of Decree 39, the enterprise must notify the provincial Department of Health of the province where the establishment has its head office of the information of its on-site Occupational Health Worker (using the form in Appendix XXI) or of the Medical Examination and Treatment Facility with which it has entered into a contract (using the form in Appendix XXII). This is a procedure that is frequently overlooked when personnel changes occur.
However, only where the enterprise is unable to arrange an Occupational Health Worker or establish a Medical Unit must it enter into a contract with a Medical Examination and Treatment Facility that is sufficiently qualified in accordance with regulations issued by the Minister of Health to perform tasks relating to the health care of Employees. In such cases, the enterprise must also ensure that medical personnel can be present at the manufacturing and business establishment within 30 minutes in plains, towns, and cities, or within 60 minutes in mountainous, remote, or isolated areas, when emergencies occur.
3. Three organizational options for enterprises
Option 1: Entering into a labor contract with a Medical Doctor. This is the most compliance-safe option and may take the form of a full-time or part-time labor contract under Article 32 of the Labor Code 2019 (the “Labor Code”). It should be noted that, under Article 2 of the Law on Social Insurance 2024, a part-time worker whose monthly salary is equal to or higher than the lowest salary used as the basis for compulsory social insurance contributions is still subject to compulsory social insurance.
Option 2: Entering into a service contract with an individual Medical Doctor. This is a common option but carries the risk of recharacterization of the relationship. Under Clause 1, Article 13 of the Labor Code, a contract under a different name that contains content showing paid work, salary, and the management, administration, and supervision of one party shall be deemed a labor contract, thereby giving rise to an obligation to make retroactive compulsory social insurance contributions. If the Medical Doctor is a public non-business unit official, then from 1 July 2026, Clause 1, Article 13 of the Law on Public Non-Business Unit Officials 2025 permits such official to enter into a labor contract or service contract with another organization, provided that the law applicable to the relevant sector or field does not prohibit it, there is no conflict of interest, it does not contravene the working contract, and it does not violate professional ethics. Where this has not yet been agreed in the working contract, the written consent of the head of the unit is required. The enterprise should require the Medical Doctor to provide this document before entering into the contract.
Option 3: Entering into a contract with a sufficiently qualified medical examination and treatment facility. A contract solely for periodic health examinations cannot substitute for this contract; commitments regarding personnel and response time should be included as contractual terms with specific remedies.
4. Conclusion
To manage risks, enterprises should: compare the actual industry group and workforce size of each establishment with Article 37 of Decree 39; review medical personnel records, including professional qualifications, Certificates of Occupational Health Professional Competency, and practice licenses; clearly define the scope of activities of the Medical Unit in internal regulations; standardize the form of contract with the Medical Doctor and the accompanying commitments; complete the notification procedure with the provincial Department of Health; and maintain complete records of periodic health examinations, health management records, and first aid and emergency care training records. In addition, as Decree 39 is under consideration for replacement, enterprises should monitor developments in order to make timely adjustments.
[1] These include manufacturing and business establishments operating in the sectors and industries of seafood processing and preservation and the manufacture of seafood products; mining; manufacture of textile, garment, leather and footwear products; manufacture of coke; manufacture of chemicals; manufacture of rubber and plastic products; recycling of scrap materials; environmental sanitation services; metal production; shipbuilding and ship repair; and manufacture of construction materials.
[2] Organisational forms of Medical Examination and Treatment Establishments include: Hospitals (General Hospitals, Traditional Medicine Hospitals, Odonto-Stomatology Hospitals and Specialised Hospitals); Clinics (General Clinics, Specialised Clinics, Multi-specialty Clinics, General Medical Practitioner Clinics, Traditional Medicine Clinics, Odonto-Stomatology Clinics, Nutrition Clinics and General Assistant Doctor Clinics); Medical Stations; Maternity Homes; Traditional Medicine Treatment Facilities; Paraclinical Service Facilities (Laboratories, Diagnostic Imaging Facilities, and Combined Laboratory and Diagnostic Imaging Facilities); Family Medicine Facilities; Dental Prosthetic Facilities; Rehabilitation Facilities; Clinical Psychology Facilities; Nursing Care Service Facilities; Midwifery Service Facilities; Palliative Care Facilities; Out-of-Hospital Emergency Care Facilities; Optical Facilities Performing Refraction Testing and Examination; and Dialysis Facilities.
[3] Clause 2 Article 73 of the Law on Occupational Safety and Health
[4] Clause 3 Article 73 of the Law on Occupational Safety and Health
As always, we hope that you find this article useful and we look forward to accompanying and supporting you in the time ahead.
Sincerely,
