According to the lawsuit filed by Mr. Nguyen Minh Thanh, the documents and evidence in the file as well as at the trial, on September 20, 2022, Mr. Thanh signed a labor contract (LC) with M Phuong Company Limited (company) with the position: Head Chef, working in the kitchen department of Romance Hotel, at 16 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, Phu Hoi Ward, Hue City. The term is 5 years from the date of signing the contract, the total income (contract salary) is 40 million VND/month. After that, Mr. Thanh's salary was increased to 50 million VND/month; this salary is only an agreement between Mr. Thanh and the company, there is no amendment to the LC.

On January 3, 2023, M Phuong Company Limited issued a decision to terminate Mr. Thanh's employment contract without any reasonable reason. Mr. Thanh repeatedly requested the company to resolve the matter legally, according to the company's regulations and the law, but still did not receive a satisfactory solution. Mr. Thanh submitted a complaint to the Hue City Labor Federation, so this unit sent a document requesting M Phuong Company Limited to have a solution to resolve the case according to the law, but the company did not resolve it. Seeing that the termination of the labor contract was not in accordance with the law, Mr. Thanh filed a lawsuit requesting the court to resolve the following issues:

Force the company to withdraw the illegal termination decision and accept Mr. Thanh back to work under the labor contract. Force the company to compensate the following amounts: 20 days of unpaid salary of 33 million VND; salary from January 3, 2023 to October 25, 2023, estimated at 200 million VND. Pay 3 months of salary due to the illegal unilateral termination of the labor contract, in the amount of 120 million VND. Force the company to settle the insurance regime according to the law for Mr. Thanh.

During the court's handling of the case, Mr. Thanh withdrew part of the lawsuit request; changed and supplemented the lawsuit request. Accordingly, the court requested the company to compensate for salary from January 3, 2023 to March 31, 2023; compensation for the time of failure to give notice totaling VND 296,129,000.

According to Ms. Phung Tieu My, the legal representative of the defendant M Phuong Company Limited, the company signed a labor contract with Mr. Thanh, exactly as the plaintiff stated (time, fixed salary of 40 million VND/month). Because she valued the development of the restaurant, Ms. My voluntarily transferred an additional 10 million VND/month in addition to the above salary of 40 million VND, to attract talented people.

On January 3, 2023, the company decided to terminate the labor contract with Mr. Thanh, for the reason: "Not meeting the company's requirements for management skills, professional skills, and food preparation skills as requested". The company terminated Mr. Thanh without notice because it realized that Mr. Thanh would affect the company's customers in terms of food safety and hygiene, and the health of customers. At the same time, if Mr. Thanh were still working, some employees would have quit. Due to the nature of the industry, it was not possible to give Mr. Thanh notice of termination in advance.

At the trial, Ms. My changed her testimony, stating that before signing the labor contract, Mr. Thanh had provided false information about his qualifications and certificates, so the company signed a labor contract with Mr. Thanh. At the same time, signing a labor contract for a term of 5 years is against labor laws, so Ms. My proactively signed a decision to terminate Mr. Thanh's employment, not because Mr. Thanh did not meet the requirements for expertise and professionalism. The defendant did not agree with all of Mr. Thanh's lawsuit requests, because he believed that the signed labor contract was invalid.

The Hue City People's Court, chaired by Judge Tran Thi Thu Hang, determined that the labor contract signed between Mr. Thanh and the company was voluntary, in compliance with the provisions of the law, and therefore effective for both parties. The company proactively carried out the drafting of the contract, the recruitment process, and the contents agreed upon by the parties. If Mr. Thanh did not provide the company's requirements correctly and completely, the company had the right not to sign the contract. The decision to terminate the contract did not state that Mr. Thanh had provided dishonest information. The contract term of 5 years is not prohibited by law.

With the reason that Mr. Thanh “did not meet the company’s requirements for management skills and professional skills in preparing dishes according to request”, the company did not provide any documents or evidence to prove the above reasons. The company also had no basis to determine that Mr. Thanh often failed to complete his work, and there was no legal document notifying Mr. Thanh of the termination of his labor contract. The signed labor contract was invalid, but the defendant did not request the competent authority to declare the labor contract invalid, but unilaterally terminated the labor contract, which is a violation of the provisions of the labor law.

Pursuant to the provisions of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code; the Labor Code; the Law on Social Insurance and other provisions of law, the Trial Panel declares that M Phuong Company Limited's unilateral termination of the labor contract with Mr. Nguyen Minh Thanh is illegal. Partially accept the lawsuit request: Force the company to withdraw the decision to terminate the employment on January 3, 2023; force to compensate Mr. Thanh a total amount of VND 148,666,000 (the salary for the days Mr. Thanh was not allowed to work, and for violating the notice period).

Quynh Anh