According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 22 of the Labor Code 2012, the provisions on seasonal labor contracts are "labor contracts for seasonal work or for a certain job with a term of fewer than 12 months.", which are signed in the case of a contract between the employer and the employee for a temporary, irregular, or defined job for a period of 12 months.

However, according to the contents of the Labor Code 2019 specified in Article 20:

“Article 20. Type of labor contract

Employment contracts can take one of the following forms:

1. Indefinite-term employment contracts;
2. Fixed-term employment contracts under which both contracting parties can determine the contractual duration and expiry date provided that the term is no longer than 36 months from the effective date of the employment contract.

....”

Thus, according to the provisions of the Labor Code 2019, the seasonal labor contract is officially eliminated from January 1, 2021.

In addition, according to the new Law on the regulations on labor contracting, it is also regulated in the direction of better protection for employees. Furthermore, there are additional provisions to improve the identity of the employment contract. The method of agreeing to the labor contract via electronic means has the same validity as a written labor contract, specifying Articles 13 and 14 of the Labor Code 2019 as follows:

"An employment contract is an agreement between an employee and an employer on a paid job, including wages, working conditions, rights, and obligations of each party in labor relations.

Where the two parties agreed to in contracts with different names but the content is shown on a paid job, wage and the management, administration, and monitoring of a party shall be regarded as labor contracts. " (Article 13)

“The labor contract concluded via electronic means in the form of a data message in accordance with the law on electronic transactions is as valid as a written labor contract. " (Article 14).

Accordingly, the Labor Code 2019 takes effect from January 1, 2021, and the 2012 Labor Code ceases to be effective.

* For the employer:

As mentioned, seasonal labor contracts have a term of fewer than 12 months or are seasonal in nature, so the use of seasonal workers can help businesses meet short-term human resources, and ensure stable production and business activities.

At the same time, the seasonal labor contract agreement also helps businesses save a lot of costs such as salaries, insurance, benefits, allowances ... for employees during the tough time in business or after the peak season.

With no seasonal labor contract and its advantages, businesses will obviously have to spend a larger amount for the same job.

* For employee

According to the current law which will lose effect from 01/01/2021, even though signing a seasonal labor contract, the employee still has many benefits as follows:

• Having the full benefit of maternity, retirement regimes, labor accidents, and occupational diseases (for being subject to compulsory social insurance under Clause 1, Article 2 of the Law on Social Insurance);
• Having unemployment benefits if all conditions are met;
• Being charged personal income tax on income from salaries and wages;
• Not being allowed to negotiate a seasonal labor contract to do jobs of a regular nature for 12 months or more, except for the case of temporarily replacing the employee for military service, taking maternity leave, sickness, occupational accident, or other temporary leave (under Clause 3, Article 22 of the Labor Code 2012);
• Being able to sign a second contract when the first contract expires, however, the work agreed in a seasonal contract must be temporary, irregular (according to Clause 2, Article 22 of the Labor Code 2012);
• Not having to probation (under Clause 2, Article 26 of the 2012 Labor Code);
• During the implementation of a labor contract, if either party requests to amend or supplement the contents of the labor contract, it must notify the other party at least 03 working days in advance of the contents to be modified, supplement (under Clause 1, Article 35 of the 2012 Labor Code);
• When unilaterally terminating the labor contract, the employer shall notify the employee at least 03 working days in advance (under Point c, Clause 2, Article 38 of the 2012 Labor Code);
• When temporarily transferring the employee to another job, different from the labor contract, the employer must notify the employee at least 03 working days in advance, clearly announce the temporary work duration and job assignment suitable to the employees' health and gender (according to Clause 2, Article 31 of the 2012 Labor Code);
• Having the regulations on separate leave, unpaid leave according to the regulations.

Thus, the benefits that employees have when working under seasonal contracts are not much different from working under fixed-term contracts or indefinite-term contracts.

Conclusion: The employer's interests are affected more than the employee when the seasonal labor contract is eliminated.