The Ministry of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs has promulgated the list of jobs in which the employment of female workers is prohibited. This is imposed on agencies and enterprises nationwide.
JOBS IN WHICH THE EMPLOYMENT OF FEMALE WORKERS IS PROHIBITED
According to Circular 26/2013/TT-BLDTBXH, there are jobs in which the employment of female workers is prohibited because of their negative impact on childbirth and child raising, including:
- Directly boiling and pouring molten metals at electric arc furnaces of a capacity of 0.5 tons or more, pig iron blast furnaces, steel refining drifts, kilns, blast furnace;
- Rolling hot metal (except ferrous metals);
- Regularly working in shifts on offshore oil rigs (except socio-medical services and meal accommodation services);
- Operating heavy construction-machines of a capacity of over 36 horse power, such as excavators, bulldozers and crawler vehicles (except hydraulic machines);
- Jobs requiring workers to carry or fix weights of 50 kg or more;
- Surveying river ways with high cascades and dangerous deep mountains.
In addition, under the provisions of Article 160 of the Labor Code 2012, jobs requiring dredging underground sluices, and soaking body in dirty and fetid water are not allowed to use female workers. Also according to Circular 26, jobs in which the employment of female workers is prohibited include:
- Underwater concreting; divers;
- Dredging underground sluices (except automatic, machine-operated dredging);
- Regularly soaking body in dirty and fetid water (4 or more hours a day, over 3 days a week);
- Digging pits; digging well pits; doing jobs in pits (except socio-medical services and extraordinary jobs to meet management and administration requirements, which must comply with current national technical regulations on safety and regulations on health criteria for workers in pits).
JOBS IN WHICH THE EMPLOYMENT OF FEMALE WORKERS WHO ARE PREGNANT OR NURSING UNDER-12 MONTH CHILDREN IS PROHIBITED
Apart from the above-mentioned jobs, the Ministry of Labor – Invalids and Social Affairs stipulates that the employment of female workers who are pregnant or nursing under-12 month children is prohibited in the jobs below:
- Working in places affected by electromagnetic field in excess of prescribed standards and regulations (such as jobs in radio frequency transmitting stations, radio or television stations, radar stations or satellite telecommunications stations);
- Working in direct contact (producing, transporting, preserving or using) with pesticides, herbicides, termiticides, rodenticides and mosquito killing drugs containing organic chloride and some genetic modification- or cancer-causing chemicals.
- Working in tobacco fermentation furnaces or cigarette-drying furnaces;
- Removing molds;
- Carrying or lifting weights of over 20 kg;
- Regularly soaking body in dirty water, being exposed to infection;
- Working in uncomfortable posture and in narrow space which occasionally requires workers to lie, bow or bend.
In addition, it is clearly stated that no female employees are employed when they are pregnant or nursing their children under 12 months of age. The circular requires enterprises, organizations and mass organizations to review the work that women workers are doing, based on the list of jobs in which the employment of female workers is prohibited. On that basis, employers must make plans to arrange, retrain, change or transfer jobs suitable for the health of female workers.
In order to comply with Circular 26, the Departments of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs shall have to intensify the inspection, detection and timely handling of cases in contravention of the regulations on the non-employment of female workers. Therefore, it requires businesses to comply with the law to avoid the unfortunate circumstances that may affect their reputation.
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