A Filipino manager wrongfully dismissed by an FDI company in Vietnam has returned to Manila and cannot come back to pursue a lengthy lawsuit. He asks: having left, can he still sue the company in Vietnam, whom can he authorise to act in the proceedings, can he join hearings remotely, and how long does the limitation period still run?
Governing legal framework
A foreign worker’s right to sue over unlawful termination does not lapse when he leaves Vietnam: a labor dispute arising in Vietnam falls under Vietnamese courts’ jurisdiction under the 2015 Civil Procedure Code for cases with foreign elements. That code allows a party to authorise another person — a lawyer or an eligible individual — to act in the proceedings, and an authorisation document made abroad must be consular-legalised for use in Vietnam. Limitation is the hard boundary: under Article 190 of the 2019 Labor Code, limitation is six months for requesting mediation and one year for requesting court resolution from discovering the infringing act.
Applying the rules in practice
On who to authorise, the most practical choice is a Vietnamese lawyer under a consular-legalised power of attorney or legal-services contract executed at the Vietnamese representative office in the worker’s country. The authorised person performs all procedural work: filing, attending compulsory pre-litigation mediation, appearing at hearings, receiving the judgment and requesting enforcement. On remote participation, Vietnamese procedure now allows online hearings in cases as regulated by the courts, with e-litigation rules still maturing, but the worker should not stake the whole plan on this — a full authorisation to counsel is the certain route, and an online hearing is only a supplement where the court accepts it.
The timeline must be counted backwards from limitation: the labor mediator must be engaged within six months, and the court claim filed within one year of learning of the unlawful dismissal. For a party abroad, those windows are eaten by notarised translation and legalisation time, so the first act on returning home is signing the authorisation and sending original files to Vietnam immediately. A winning judgment is enforced like an ordinary Vietnamese labor judgment, with sums transferred to the worker through lawful banking channels.
Steps to follow
- Sign the power of attorney or legal-services contract with a Vietnamese lawyer and legalise it consularly in the home country right away.
- Send all original labor files to Vietnam: contract, dismissal decision, payroll, correspondence.
- File the mediation request within six months and the court claim within one year under Article 190.
- Track enforcement in Vietnam through the authorised person and receive funds into the worker’s own bank account.
FAQs
Already back home — can he still sue the company in Vietnam?
Yes. Leaving Vietnam does not extinguish the right to sue over a labor dispute arising in Vietnam; Vietnamese courts have jurisdiction over labor cases with foreign elements under the 2015 Civil Procedure Code. The preconditions are acting within Article 190 of the 2019 Labor Code limitation and completing the pre-litigation mediation step.
Whom can he authorise to act in the proceedings?
A lawyer in Vietnam is the standard choice; an eligible individual may also be authorised under procedural law. An authorisation signed abroad must be certified and consular-legalised at a Vietnamese diplomatic mission to be accepted by the court.
Can he join hearings remotely?
Possibly, where the court organises an online hearing under current procedural rules, but that is the court’s per-case decision, not an automatic right of a party abroad. The assured route is full authorisation for counsel to attend every meeting and hearing on the party’s behalf, including in-person trials.
How long does the limitation period run?
Limitation is six months for mediation and one year for court action from the day the worker discovers the unlawful dismissal, under Article 190 of the 2019 Labor Code. Time abroad does not pause the clock, so authorisation and file preparation must begin immediately on returning home.
This article has been quality-reviewed by the FLAW AI Legal Council