The 12-article document, coded CoC-VN, has been published as a manual covering all steps required by law from business standards, advertisements, personal screening, vocational training, immigration arrangements and protection of guest workers abroad.

The code includes the signing of labour contracts, guest worker repatriation and reintegration, labour disputes and mechanisms for dispute solution, building partnerships and colleague relations between businesses.

The document makes it clear that dismissed guest workers will not pay the cost of their return if they are found not guilty. Exporters are also asked not to lure labour by advertising incomes, bonuses and other benefits higher than the labour contracts they have signed with foreign employers.

The Chairman of the Vietnam Labour Exporters’ Association, Nguyen Luong Trao, said the manual aims to prevent forced labour and human trafficking, especially relating to vulnerable populations such as females. He added that it would help exporters abide by not only the national law but also international conventions.