This question is usually asked only after the incident: the employee’s misconduct is plain, but the company searches its files and finds it never issued — or issued but never registered — internal labour regulations. From that moment every sanction decision stands on thin ice, and the wise move is to know exactly which tools remain available.
Two different “no regulations” situations
Situation one: the employer engages fewer than ten employees. This group is not required to have written regulations, but clause 1, Article 118 of the 2019 Labour Code requires labour discipline and material responsibility content to be agreed in the labour contract. If the contract carries that clause, the employer retains a sanction basis within the agreed scope; if the contract is also silent on discipline, the basis is close to zero.
Situation two is far riskier: ten or more employees but regulations never issued, or issued yet never registered under Article 119. Here the legal duty was breached from the start, and disciplinary clauses in an unregistered text are not yet in force. Any sanction decision citing that document can be challenged at its root, quite apart from the administrative fine for regulations violations under Decree 283/2026/ND-CP.
What remains possible without regulations
Having no regulations does not mean watching misconduct helplessly. Non-disciplinary management measures stay available: verbal and written reminders minuted as event records (not sanction decisions); appraising the employee as not completing work under an appraisal policy if one exists; material-responsibility compensation where the act damaged assets and a basis exists in the contract; and, on the civil plane, compensation claims under the Civil Code for harm the employee caused to third parties or the company beyond the disciplinary sphere.
What must not happen is borrowing prohibited tools: fines and wage deductions in lieu of discipline are banned by Article 127 in all circumstances, regulations or not. Nor should the company rush out regulations and apply them backwards to past conduct — non-retroactivity protects the employee, and courts apply the regulations in force when the act occurred. For Article 125 dismissal-grade conduct, with no regulations in place the disciplinary dismissal door is practically shut; counsel should assess other termination bases before any step is taken.
The fix path and how courts look at it
The correct remediation sequence: draft regulations covering the full core contents of clause 2, Article 118 (above all the misconduct catalogue, sanction levels and the harassment clause); consult the workplace representative organisation if one exists; issue and file for registration within ten days; wait out the fifteen days to effectiveness; then communicate and collect employee acknowledgements. From the effective date, the disciplinary system stands firm for conduct arising afterwards.
When a discipline dispute reaches court, judges almost always start from the basis question: was the sanctioned conduct prescribed in valid regulations in force at the time it occurred, and was the Article 122 procedure followed? A company unable to produce registered regulations typically loses on that first question, above all in dismissal cases — the consequences being reinstatement, back pay for the excluded period and compensation under Article 41 of the 2019 Labour Code, a price far above doing the regulations properly at the outset.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we discipline with unregistered regulations?
Not safely. A company with ten or more staff that never issued or never registered its regulations has disciplinary clauses that are not in force — sanctions built on them are easily declared unlawful. Companies under ten staff may only discipline within the discipline clause agreed in the labour contract under clause 1, Article 118 of the 2019 Labour Code.
What are the risks?
Three layers: an administrative fine for regulations violations under Decree 283/2026/ND-CP; the sanction — above all a dismissal — declared void or unlawful, pulling in reinstatement and Article 41 compensation; and the Article 127 bar on disciplining conduct the regulations do not prescribe.
How do we fix it?
Draft regulations with the full core contents of clause 2, Article 118; consult the workplace representative organisation; issue and register within ten days under Article 119; wait the fifteen days to effectiveness; then communicate and collect acknowledgements. New regulations govern only conduct after their effective date — never retroactively.
How do courts see it?
Courts test two points: whether the conduct was prescribed in valid regulations in force when it occurred, and whether the Article 122 procedure was followed. A company that cannot produce registered regulations usually loses on the basis point alone, especially in dismissal litigation.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council